222 WEEDS OF THE FARM AND GARDEN 



part of the United States, also in Europe, in shady 

 grounds and fields; a cosmopolitan weed. 



Horse Nettle (Solatium carolinense, L.). An herba- 

 ceous, deep-rooting perennial which propagates very 

 freely by means of its deep underground roots, the run- 

 ning roots being frequently three feet long; stem from 

 one to two feet tall, somewhat straggling and half 

 shrubby at the base ; rather rough and beset with numer- 

 ous minute, star-shaped hairs and yellowish prickles ; 

 leaves two to four inches long, oblong or ovate, sinuate- 

 toothed, lobed or deeply cut, and bearing spines ; flowers 

 borne in racemes which later become one-sided : calyx 

 with slender lobes, corolla white or light blue, about one- 

 inch in diameter, resembling that of the common potato; 

 flowers followed by roundish berries one-half to three- 

 fourths inch in diameter. Somewhat widely scattered in 

 central and eastern Iowa and at various points in Iowa; 

 common in the South. Berries said to be poisonous, but 

 not likely to cause trouble, since sheep, horses, and cattle 

 refuse to eat them. 



Horseweed, Bull Nettle (Solatium eleagnifolium, Cav.). 

 A deep-rooted, spreading perennial from one to three 

 feet high; stem silvery canescent, finely pubescent; 

 leaves lanceolate, oblong or linear, petioled, entire or 

 repand dentate ; flowers in cymose clusters ; peduncle 

 stout and short ; corolla gamopetalous, blue ; calyx lobes 

 lanceolate ; berry yellow, smooth, globose. Common on 

 the prairies of Kansas to Texas and New Mexico. 



Wright's Datura (Datura Metel, L.). A spiny pubes- 

 cent annual, pale in color, leaves obovate, entire ; flow- 

 ers large, showy, white or pale violet, sweet scented; 

 corolla with a five-toothed border; capsule nodding, 

 spiny. In waste places, escaped from gardens from 

 Rhode Island to Florida. 



Purple Thorn Apple or Purple Stramonium (Datura 

 Tatula, L.). A glabrous annual from a few inches to five 



