366 SOLANACEAE (NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 
under a heap of sawdust and grow as soon as the dust is removed.” 
Sheep are the only grazing animals that will touch the plant, and 
they merely nibble off the fruits; the seeds are widely scattered 
in their droppings and many a 
productive acre is thus practically 
ruined. (Fig. 255.) 
Stem six inches to two feet tall, 
erect, loosely branched, roughened 
with short, stiff, star-shaped hairs, 
and beset with sharp, awl-shaped, 
yellow spines. Alternate leaves 
two to five inches in length, oblong 
to ovate in outline, irregularly and 
coarsely wavy-toothed, or sinuate- 
pinnatifid, covered with star-shaped 
hairs, veins and midrib prickly on 
both sides as are also the petioles. 
Flowers in open cymose clusters 
on prickly peduncles which spring 
from the side of the stem between 
the leaves, at first appearing ter- 
minal but becoming lateral as the 
stem lengthens; corolla pale violet 
or bluish white, five-lobed ; stamens 
with anthers equal and tapering 
toward the summit; calyx-lobes hairy, rather short, acute, per- 
sistent at the base of the fruit, which is an orange-colored berry, 
smooth, globular, about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, full 
of juicy pulp and flattened, straw-colored seeds. 
Fig. 255. — Horse Nettle (Solanum 
carolinense). X }. 
Means of control 
If the infestation is new and the area not too large, the plants 
may be killed outright by the use of hot brine, caustic soda, or 
kerosene which usually destroys all accompanying growths or, 
if pains are taken to apply the herbicide directly about the roots 
of the weeds, the neighboring plants may not be greatly damaged. 
If possible, all seed development should be prevented, which 
