Solanum carolinense L.
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Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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Family
Solanaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Coarse, erect, branching, rhizomatous perennial to 1 m, spiny and loosely stellate-hairy; lvs ovate in outline, 7–12 cm, half as wide, with 2–5 large teeth or shallow lobes on each side, ± spiny along the main veins, stellate-hairy on both sides, the hairs sessile with 4–8 branches, the central branch often elongate; infl several-fld, elongating at maturity and forming a simple racemiform cluster; cor pale violet to white, 2 cm wide; anthers equal; fr deadly poisonous, yellow, 1–1.5 cm, subtended but not enclosed by the mostly unarmed cal; 2n=24. Fields and waste places, especially in sandy soil, originally native to se. U.S., n. to Va. and Ky., now established as a weed n. to Vt., Ont., Mich., Minn., and westward. S. dimidiatum Raf., of Kans. to Ark. and Tex., occurs in Mo. apparently as an introduction. It has the stellate hairs of the lower lf-surface distinctly stipitate, with 9–13 subequal branches, and the infl is commonly branched from the top of the peduncle, forming 2 or 3 raceme-like clusters. (S. torreyi)
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Common Names
horse-nettle