What weed is this? I have found some in the hay. It has leaves but they’re broken off so I don’t know what shape. There are thorns on the long stems, not on the bits with the seeds.
I’d guess horse nettle (Solanum carolinense) and what you are looking at is the dried fruit, not the actual seed (preserved in the hay).
It’s toxic, but most horses won’t eat it.
3 Likes
Same - horse nettle. It’s pretty hard to have NONE in hay, so I just pull the pieces out when I see them, and throw them away (which means NOT in any compost pile or anywhere anything has any chance to sprout or poke someone)
1 Like
If you’re in the southeast, that could be tropical soda apple. But those have many tiny seeds, not one big one.
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW097
^^ could be. They are both solanums; there are many varieties…just depends on where you live but practically every climate has some kind of nightshade. In general, while they are toxic, horses will not eat them. If you find them in hay, just pull it out. But if your horse finds it (which I’m sure they have…) they will discard it as well.
Thanks! Yes, in the southeast, in Georgia. I’m sure the hay is coming from somewhere north but not too far west.
I shipped a horse from TN and she was sent with transition hay, and this fell out of it. I thought it was tomatoes! 
I was corrected to horse nettles on a FB group. I lived in the south most of my life with horses and never saw it, not once, so I was majorly confused.
Distribution of tropical soda apple
https://www.eddmaps.org/distribution/usstate.cfm?sub=2446
It looks like horse nettle is throughout the US, except for the northwest.
I think this point is worth repeating!
If you (general) find any weed in your hay, toss it in the trash not in the compost pile.
1 Like
