The Horse Nettle—or more formally, Carolina Horsenettle, Solanum carolinense—was first described by Eighteenth Century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus…and perhaps that's where its nomenclature troubles began.
You see, first off it isn't a nettle. Yes, it has nettle-like spines along the leaves and stem—sharp spines that can pierce the skin, break off in your flesh, and cause a nasty little infection. At the least they can jab and poke and irritate your hide. Still, it's not a nettle, but rather a member of the nightshade family.
Okay, so what do we think of first when the word nightshade is mentioned? Poison! You betcha! As in Poison Nightshade, Bitter Nightshade, Belladonna, and a host of similar evil-sounding plants, dark and mysterious, that often figure in the plots of old whodunits. One nibble and the poor soul instantly begins clutching their throat, foaming at the mouth, to quickly keel over twitching and jerking, like a cockroach given a healthy squirt of Raid!
Of course, we forget that tomatoes, potatoes, most sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, and dozens of delicious and "good for you" foods, common on every dinner table, are also members of the nightshade family.
However, I digress. Horse Nettle—which is also written as one word, horsenettle, or hyphenated, horse-nettle, depending on the text—is NOT something you want to nibble, because it is poisonous. This is due to the presence of solanine, a toxic alkaloid. The amount of toxicity depends on the plant's age and the part you eat. Some texts say the small, yellow, tomato-like fruits the plant produces are not poisonous, or are only mildly poisonous. I say mildly poisonous is like mildly dead—both to be avoided. By we humans as well as horses, which therefore offers not a clue why the "horse" reference ended up in the name.
Besides being a nightshade and not a nettle, and having nothing to do with horses, Horse Nettles sport some rather interesting—possibly bizarre—common names…Sand Briar, Radical Weed, Bull Nettle, Wild Tomato, and my three absolute favorites, Tread-Softly, Devil's Tomato, and Apple of Sodom.
Well, I suppose we all have our quirks. And aside from being poison, prickly, misnamed, and possessing a host of funky nicknames, the Horse Nettle boasts a pretty and only slightly weird, little flower. I photographed this one this morning while poking around a nearby field.
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