Solanum elaeagnifolium

White horse-nettle, White Horse-Nettle

Family: Solanaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

White horse-nettle is a naturalized perennial herb found in dry, disturbed places throughout California (excluding Northern Coast, Klamath Ranges, and Great Basin) at elevations below 2,200 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces pale blue to purple flowers with greenish yellow to dark reddish purple throats, approximately 20 to 30 millimeters in diameter. Growing up to one meter tall, it forms dense colonies with sparsely to densely prickly stems covered in gray-green stellate hairs. Its oblong leaves, 5 to 15 centimeters long, are entire or wavy-margined, with a yellowish appearance and occasional prickles. The fruit is yellow to orange, 8 to 15 millimeters long, and often persists on the plant after ripening.

Habitat: Common. Dry, disturbed places, fields

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: < 2200 m

Bioregions: CA (exc NCo, KR, GB)

California counties: San Bernardino, Kern, Los Angeles, Imperial, Ventura, Tulare, Riverside, Orange, Merced, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Yolo, Fresno, San Mateo, San Joaquin, Alameda, Madera, Butte, Contra Costa, Tuolumne, Solano, Colusa, Yuba, Placer, El Dorado, Mendocino, Calaveras, Shasta, Sacramento, Glenn, Tehama, Sutter, Stanislaus, Inyo, Mariposa, Marin

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.