Horse-nettle
Scientific Name: Solanum carolinense L.
Other Names: morelle de la Caroline, ortie de la Caroline
Family: Nightshade or Potato Family (Solanaceae)
General Description: Perennial, reproducing by seed and by underground rhizomes.
Habitat: Found in scattered localities throughout southern Ontario, usually in sandy soils, in grain fields, pastureland, waste areas, and occasionally in gardens.
Seedlings
- Cotyledons are oval and oblong, 1.2 cm (1/2 in.) long, hairy on the margins
- Short, stiff hairs on the stem and hypocotyl
Stems
- Erect
- 60- 100 cm (24- 40 in.) high
- A few branches near the top
- Covered with tiny, star-shaped hairs and scattered, long, hard, sharp spines
Leaves
- Alternate (1 per node)
- Elliptic in outline but shallowly to deeply lobed
- 2- 5 rounded or sharp-pointed lobes on each side
- Finely hairy on both surfaces with star-shaped hairs
Flowers & Fruit
- Flowers arranged in 1 or more short racemes at the ends and sides of branches in the upper part
- Corolla pale purplish to white
- 5 stamens joined in a central column
- Berry is smooth, yellow at maturity
- Flowers from July until autumn
Often Confused With
Groundcherries (Groundcherries do not have prickles on the stems or leaves).
Click to enlarge.
