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rainbowgardener
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Solanum carolinense

Just thought I would share. Today's dog walk in the park, looking at the plants we were walking by, I spotted some potato flowers! I wondered what potatoes would be doing there, so stopped to look. I went to touch one and it bit me! Very sharp little spines all along the stem and leaf undersides, along the midrib.

Not a potato! The leaves are single, alternate. I found this one. It is Solanum carolinense, Carolina horse nettle. It is a native to SE US. It is of course in the nightshade family, with potatoes and tomatoes.

Image

I was pleased to find a new native wildflower! :)

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Lindsaylew82
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We have a lot of those here in the flower beds. These are LITERALLY a pain to pull out. They make tiny purple fruits that look like true potato fruit as well. They make a tuner as well, which is difficult to remove. They come back every time you pull them up, thanks to the tubers.

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applestar
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They are EXCELLENT trap crop for potato beetles.

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rainbowgardener
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Wow! thanks applestar, that is really good to know... though it is hard for me to understand why a potato beetle would prefer to crawl along all those really sharp spines, rather than crawling on a nice smooth potato stem. :)

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Lindsaylew82
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Those things poke through even the toughest of yard gloves!

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applestar
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Trick is to grab/hold the stem just below the soil line where there are no thorns -- Small ones will come up if you keep a firm hold even barehanded. I've also used a pair of big pliers after loosening soil with garden fork if necessary for larger specimen.

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Lindsaylew82
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*noted!

Flea Beatles like them, too!



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