Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Solanales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Carolina Horsenettle at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
SYNONYMOUS WITH Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen, 2011)
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 165-05-005:
Solanum carolinense FAMILY Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Solanum carolinense
COMMON NAME:
Carolina Horsenettle, Ball-nettle
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA Forest Service / A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia. 1969 mpa_page_237
)
USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_323
)
Gill Newberry gn04_s_carolinense_fruits
April
Fruit a 2-celled berry with many seeds, spherical, smooth turning wrinkled, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
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JK Marlow s000524_a
May Greenville County SC
Scattered but sharp prickles and leaves with shallow lobes, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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JK Marlow jkm190722_0105
July Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm100821_447
August Greenville County SC
5-lobed, pale violet to white flowers, ~ 3/4" wide; yellow anthers prominent, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm100821_449
August Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm150808_604
August Watauga County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_solanum_carolinense_2
August
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Gill Newberry gn09_copy_of_s_caro_2
September
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Gill Newberry gn09_solanumense_carolin
September
)
Gill Newberry gn09_solanumense_carolin2
September
Calyx tube 2-3mm long, calyx lobes acuminate, 3-6mm long depending on age, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow jkm170914_0471
September Henderson County NC
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JK Marlow jkm170914_0472
September Henderson County NC
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JK Marlow jkm170914_0474
September Henderson County NC
Style greenish, glabrous, to 1.5cm long. Stigma dark green, per www.missouriplants.com (Tenaglia).
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JK Marlow jkm170914_0510
September Henderson County NC
The berries are yellow, 0.4"-0.6" wide, and deadly poisonous, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen, 2011)
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 165-05-005:
Solanum carolinense
FAMILY
Solanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Solanum carolinense
1408
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Fields, gardens, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia (naturalized well beyond this area)
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems, and often leaves, prickly and/or spiny
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Leaves have petioles.
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
White
to purple
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed calyx
5-parted rotate corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Yellow
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p160
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p174
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p082
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p392
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p544
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p216
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p125
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p206
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p085
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p222
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p338
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p198
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p235
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p441
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p151
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p316
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p189
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