HORSE-NETTLE 



Solanum carolinense L. 



June - August When the plows and gardens of the east moved west- 

 Pastures ward — when the rutted wagon trails traveled deeper 

 and deeper into the sod and further and further into the 

 far west, certain plants and insects backtracked, following the pathway 

 of cultivation to the east. 



One of these was the yellow-floweerd bufPalo-l)ur {Solanum ros- 

 tmtum) and another was the closely related white or lavender flowered 

 horse-nettle. With these came the potato beetles, and it is believed that 

 through the distribution of these plants this insect came into the fanns 

 and gardens of the eastern states which never had known them before. 



Horse-nettle is a thorny weed with small, yellow, tomato-like fruits 

 the size of a large cheriy. They are not enclosed in a husk, as the gi'ound 

 cheiTy is, with which it is sometimes confused. The ])lant is a member 

 of the Tomato-Potato family, the nightshades or Solanums, and the 

 flower, resembling those of this family, in itself is crisp and pretty. 



Potato beetles feed as avidly upon the spiny leaves of the horse-nettle 

 as they do upon the more succulent leaves of the potato. The lieetles knew 

 these wild Solanums long before they leaincd to devour jjotato plants. 

 From the Great Plains and the foothills of the Rockies, the horse-nettle, 

 with its usual accompaniment of beetles, then came eastwaid into plowed 

 land. The potato fields were invaded. 



Horse-nettles are conunon in waste places in Illinois. The yellow 

 fruits are noticeable in late summer and autumn. They are eaten by only 

 one mammal, the sheep, which seems unharmed by a degree of toxicity 

 found in horse-nettle seeds and leaves. The fruits nic not recognized as 

 an edible wild fruit for hunum consumption. 



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