The plant is called "Indian Tobacco"; it's in the same genus, Nicotiana, as regular smoking tobacco.
The caterpillar becomes a very large (5" wingspan) moth called Carolina Sphinx that flies at dawn and dusk and feeds on the flowers of the same family of plants, the Nightshade. And that's also where it lays its eggs.
If the caterpillar survives predators it will pupate underground for the winter, emerge in the Spring, and the cycle begins again.
The caterpillar's head is at the bottom of the photo.
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