The Carolina horsenettle (Solanum carolinense) is (as you can guess from its name) native to North America, was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era (1868-1912), and can now be found across the country. The plant produces white and pale purple flowers from June to October and fruits from July to October in Tokyo.
The Carolina horsenettle is named by a pioneer Japanese botanist Dr. Tomitaro Makino "waru nasubi" in 1906, which translates into "rogue eggplant." This is justifiable. The plant is poisonous in its entirety with thorns that would prick you if you try to remove it. So, although it's in the same family as the eggplant (i.e., Solanaceae), nobody would disagree the Carolina horsenettle is ROGUE as you can see in its other English names "radical weed," "apple of Sodom," and "devil's tomato."
Despite such a bad perception, however, Carolina horsenettle flowers are beautiful and its fruits are pretty, which look like kumquats (scroll down) although again they're toxic. We shouldn't be fooled by appearances.
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| 2026/6/16 |
