Solanum carolinense 2, Horse-nettle, Howard County, Md, Helen Lowe Metzman
No one likes Horsenettle (Solanum carolinense), but bumble bees do and in at least some areas it can be the dominant pollen they feeds their babies (thanks T'ai Roulston for that tidbit). We will be creating a giant horsenettle plot this year (probably the only one in the world - check that box for the USGS Bee Lab) so we can look more closely at this the red-headed stepchild of the native plant world. Maybe if it cleaned up its act and wasn't alway half eaten by "bugs" it would be liked more by humans and btw, get rid of those thorns...and that poisonous fruit too while your at it. Some plants just won't conform to our sense of appropriate dress and normatives, that keep up with the neighbors look we all demand...probably would have dandelions in their lawn too. Specimen and picture by Helen Lowe Metzman.
We Are Made One with What We Touch and See
We are resolved into the supreme air,
We are made one with what we touch and see,
With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,
With our young lives each spring impassioned tree
Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range
The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.
- Oscar Wilde. Original public domain image from Flickr