Horse-Nettle

Herbal Glossary | Medicinal Glossary | Herbal Preparations

Solanum carolinense L.
Nightshade family

Contents:
Common Names Parts Usually Used Plant(s) & Culture Where Found Medicinal Properties	Uses Warning Bibliography

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

A weed of the nightshade family, with yellow prickles. Five parted flowers are violet to white stars; May to October. Fruits orange to yellow berries resembling tiny tomatoes are considered poisonous; August to September. Perennial; 1-4 feet tall. Stems sharp-spined. Leaves oval to elliptical; lobed to coarse-toothed.
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Where Found

Sandy soil. Old fields, farmlands, barnyards, waste places. New England to Florida; Texas to South Dakota.
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Medicinal Properties

Diuretic, antispasmodic.
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Uses

Once used in folk medicine:

Properly administered, berries were once used for epilepsy. Berries fried in grease were used as an ointment for dog's mange. Native Americans gargled wilted leaf tea for sore throats; poulticed leaves for poison-ivy rash; drank tea for worms (SEE WORMS).
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Warning

This herb is potentially fatal. Toxic. Fatalities reported in children. This herb should not be used without proper medical supervision.
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Bibliography

Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke, Plate 33, pg., 182.
Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, pg., 652.