Solanum carolinense

Solanum carolinense
Photo was taken by Gil Nelson
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order:	Solanales
Family:	Solanaceae
Genus:	Solanum
Species:	S. carolinense
Binomial name
Solanum carolinense L.
Natural range of Solanum carolinense from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: Carolina horsenettle

Ecology

Habitat

S. carolinense can be found in pinelands, floodplains, floodplain clearings, pine-oak woods, upland oak-hikory forests, grassy turf of berms, pine-palmetto flatwoods, wet hammocks, deciduous woodlands, river banks, bordering marshes, and seasonally wet depressions within thickets (FSU Herbarium). It can also occur at boat landings, roadsides, shrubby lake margins, cultivated watermelon fields, under bridges, roadside depressions, cultivated flower beds, powerline corridors, old fields, along hiking trails, disturbed slash pine woodlands, and cowpea fields.

Associated species include Richardia scabra, Croton glandulosus, Ambrosia artemisifolia, Datura stramonium, Phytolacca, Amaranthus, Cyperus, Passiflora, Rubus, Ilex, Baccharis, Myrica, horsemint, morning glory, and evening primrose (FSU Herbarium).

Soils include sandy soils, limestone, sandy loam, loamy sand, alluvial sands, black organic clay (FSU Herbarium) and calcareous soils (Engle et al. 2000)

Phenology

Flowers and fruits April through November (FSU Herbarium).

Fire ecology

S. carolinense dominated the canopy coverage on herbicide-treated plots during the first year after treatment (Madison et al. 2001).

Use by animals

It is an important summer food for bobwhites (Jones and Chamberlain 2004).

References and notes

Engle, D. M., M. W. Palmer, et al. (2000). "Influence of late season fire on early successional vegetation of an Oklahoma prairie." Journal of Vegetation Science 11: 135-144.

Jones, J. D. J. and M. J. Chamberlain (2004). "Efficacy of herbicides and fire to improve vegetative conditions for northern bobwhites in mature pine forests." Wildlife Society Bulletin 32: 1077-1084.

Madison, L. A., T. G. Barnes, et al. (2001). "Effectiveness of fire, disking, and herbicide to renovate tall fescue fields to northern bobwhite habitat." Wildlife Society Bulletin 29: 706-712.

Squiers, E. R. (1989). "The effects of seasonal timing of disturbance on species composition in a first-year oldfield." Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 116: 356-363.