Family Solanaceae (Nightshades)

Domain: EucaryaKingdom: PlantaeDivision: Class: MagnoliopsidaOrder: Solanales Phenology

Solanaceae Species Discovered in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Species Common Name Photo Where? Phenology
Datura stramoniumJimson Weed(NA) HerePhenology
Physalis heterophyllaGround-cherry(NA) HerePhenology
Physalis virginianaVirginia Ground-Cherry(NA) HerePhenology
Solanum carolinenseCarolina horse nettle HerePhenology
Solanum dulcamaraClimbing nightshade(NA) HerePhenology
Solanum ptychanthumWest Indian nightshade(NA) HerePhenology
Solanum speciesNightshade species(NA) HerePhenology

Can't find the species you are looking for?
Note: Taxa on this list are only those contained in the ATBI database,
and do not neccessarily include all Park taxa from historic park reports, literature,
or other sources that have not yet been entered
in the Biodiversity Database.
Also note: where part of the taxon name is species,
it means that the taxon name has not yet been agreed upon by taxonomists for this group,
or that it was not identified to this level.

In Case You Didn't Know ...
This family of flowering plants is a large one. It includes economically important plants, including the common tomato, eggplant and potato consumed as our dinner fare. However, other rather poisonous members of the nightshade family include spiny field plants such as horse nettle, and the cultured porcupine tomatoes.
In the Smokies, data has been collected on the following: horse nettle, jimson weed, ground cherry, and climbing nightshade, among other interesting, and sometime prickly greenery.


Click Critter Search to look up distributional info on any organism or grouping of organisms.