If you spend much time walking along roadsides, fields, trails, or sunny woodland edges in Upstate South Carolina, you may eventually spot a plant covered with small yellow fruits that look a little like miniature tomatoes.

That plant may be Carolina horsenettle (Solanum carolinense), a native member of the nightshade family.

At first glance, the fruit can make the plant look almost edible. It is not.

A Native Nightshade

Carolina horsenettle belongs to the same plant family as tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Unlike those familiar garden plants, however, horsenettle contains toxic compounds and should never be eaten.

The plant is native to much of the eastern United States and is common throughout South Carolina.

It usually grows in sunny or disturbed areas, including:

• Roadsides
• Pastures
• Old fields
• Trail edges
• Utility corridors
• Open woodland areas
• Vacant lots

It can also appear unexpectedly in lawns and gardens.

How to Identify Carolina Horsenettle

Carolina horsenettle has several features that make it fairly easy to recognize once you know what to look for.

The leaves are rough and somewhat fuzzy, with irregular or wavy lobes along the edges. The stems and even the main veins of the leaves can have sharp yellowish prickles.

During the warmer months, the plant produces star-shaped flowers that are usually white, pale lavender, or purple. Bright yellow anthers form a noticeable cluster in the center of each flower.

Later in the season, those flowers develop into round berries.

The berries begin green and eventually turn yellow or yellow-orange as they mature. They are often about the size of a large marble and may remain attached to the plant into fall.

Those Yellow Berries Are Toxic

The fruit is probably the most interesting feature of Carolina horsenettle, but it is also why the plant deserves caution.

The berries contain toxic glycoalkaloids similar to compounds found in other members of the nightshade family.

People should not eat them.

The unripe berries are generally considered especially toxic, but mature fruit should also be avoided. Other parts of the plant can also contain toxic compounds.

Children may be particularly tempted by the round yellow fruit because it resembles a tiny tomato.

Watch Out for the Thorns

The berries are not the plant’s only defense.

Carolina horsenettle often has sharp prickles along its stems and leaf veins. They can easily poke through thin gardening gloves or scratch bare skin.

The thorns are one reason the plant can become troublesome in pastures and places where people frequently walk.

Even its name hints at its unfriendly nature. Although called a “nettle,” it is not actually related to true nettles.

Surprisingly Pretty Flowers

Before the yellow fruit appears, Carolina horsenettle can be an attractive wildflower.

Its five-pointed flowers resemble miniature versions of potato or eggplant blossoms. They are usually around an inch across and may appear throughout summer.

Native bees frequently visit the flowers.

Like several other members of the nightshade family, horsenettle flowers are especially suited to insects capable of “buzz pollination.” Certain bees vibrate the flower to shake pollen loose from the anthers.

Difficult to Remove

Anyone who has tried to eliminate Carolina horsenettle from a yard or pasture may already know how persistent it can be.

The plant spreads through both seeds and underground roots.

Pulling the visible plant may not remove the entire root system. New shoots can emerge from remaining underground portions, sometimes making it appear as though the plant simply came back from the dead.

Repeated cutting or mowing can weaken it over time, although established patches can be stubborn.

Wildlife and Horsenettle

While Carolina horsenettle is toxic to people and many livestock animals, wildlife interactions with the plant are more complicated.

Some birds and small animals may consume the fruit and help spread the seeds.

The flowers also provide pollen for native bees and other insects.

That makes horsenettle another example of a native plant that can be both ecologically useful and inconvenient for humans.

A Plant Worth Recognizing

Carolina horsenettle is not one of the showiest plants growing around the Upstate, but it is certainly one of the more interesting.

Its purple or white flowers resemble garden vegetables. Its yellow berries look almost like tiny tomatoes. Its stems are armed with sharp prickles, and its roots make the plant surprisingly difficult to eliminate.

If you find one growing around Pickens County or the Table Rock area, it is worth taking a closer look.

Just leave the little yellow “tomatoes” where you found them.