Common Names
Horse nettle, apple of Sodom, ball nettle, bull nettle, Carolina horse nettle, nightshade, sand brier, tread-softly.

Description
A prickly erect perennial that grows to 3 feet in height. Leaves are shallowly lobed pinnately, broad, with yellow thorns on veins beneath. Flowers are pale violet to white. Fruit is a yellow berry.

Flowering Period
May to September.

Habitat
Sandy openings, dry fields, wastelands, and roadsides.

Harvest
Berries, leaves, and rootstock in the fall.

Uses
This plant is extremely poisonous. The berries, when properly prepared, have been used as diuretics, antispasmodics, anodynes; and according to the U.S. Dispensatory, they have also been used in a treatment for epilepsy.