Solanum carolinense L.

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)

Dry fields and waste ground, usually in sandy soils. A weedy plant in disturbed areas, roadsides, old fields, wasteplaces, pastures; forest or natural area.

Can be grown by cuttings, divisions or seedlings.