Kandankathiri (Solanum virginianum)

Kandankathiri is Solanum virginianum, the yellow-berried prickly nightshade that Ayurvedic lists call kaṇṭakārī. Older packets say Solanum xanthocarpum or S. surattense. POWO treats those as synonyms. It is not thoothuvalai, and it is not a garden brinjal.

Botanical name: Solanum virginianum L.
Family: Solanaceae
Tamil: Kandankathiri
Hindi: Kateli
Sanskrit: Kaṇṭakārī
Parts used: Whole herb, Fruit, Root
Habit: Very prickly spreading herb of waste ground
Last updated: 2026-10-30

How to recognise Kandankathiri

Linnaeus published Solanum virginianum. The family is Solanaceae. It is a low, spreading, fiercely armed herb: prickles on stem, leaf-veins and calyx; leaves sinuate; flowers purple; berries mottled green then yellow.

Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. & J.G.Wendl. and Solanum surattense Burm.f. are the synonyms you will still see on Ayurvedic tins. If you are writing a label today, use S. virginianum and mention the synonyms so older readers are not lost.

Tamil kandankathiri and Hindi kateli / bhatakataiya are the usual names. Sanskrit kaṇṭakārī (“the thorny one”) is the list name. English “yellow-berried nightshade” is useful when the fruit is ripe.

Solanum trilobatum is a climber with often three-lobed leaves. This plant is a sprawling herb of open ground. A child can learn the two from habit before anyone talks about a churna.

It is the plant you step around on a dry bund.

The name virginianum is a Linnaean leftover and does not mean the plant is American. Indian material is still this species when the prickles and yellow berries match.

Ripe yellow berries and green mottled ones are stages of the same fruit. Traditional lists sometimes distinguish them. A churna will not.

The plant hugs open, trampled ground. A climber sold as kantakari is usually S. trilobatum.

Traditional use of Kandankathiri

Ayurveda

Kaṇṭakārī is a famous nightshade in that system, often in cough categories, and one of the ten roots of daśamūla. Those headings are historical. They are not a modern respiratory claim.

Ayurvedic materia medica headings

Siddha and Tamil practice

Kandankathiri is a village herb, used as whole plant more often than as a polite leaf. Whole-plant and fruit are different jobs.

Tamil vernacular

Modern notes on Kandankathiri

Because three Latin names circulate, a literature search must use virginianum, xanthocarpum and surattense or it will lie by omission.

The practical modern issue is mixed prickly Solanum in one sack, sold under the most expensive list name.

Dasamoola-type formulae that list kantakari inherit this naming mess. A mixture study does not let one nightshade inherit every headline.

Kandankathiri safety

Whole herb is a nightshade with alkaloids. It is not a salad green.

Keep both unripe and ripe berries away from children. Related Solanum fruits vary from food (brinjal) to trouble.

Pregnant people should not start kantakari from a tin that only shows a purple flower.

Ecology and sourcing

It is a weed of disturbed dry ground. Over-collection is less the story than mislabelling.

A later lot, if any, would carry the accepted name and the synonym xanthocarpum so a vaithiyar and a botanist can both find it.

Related plants

Also in Solanaceae

Questions about Kandankathiri

Is Solanum xanthocarpum a different plant?

No. It is the older name still printed on many packets. The accepted name used here is Solanum virginianum L.

What is the Tamil name of Solanum virginianum?

Kandankathiri.

Sources

Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.