The cockroach berry or soda apple (Solanum capsicoides Allioni) is a subshrub native to the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and has been found in the Carolinas, but these may be accidental introductions. The stems and the main veins of the leaves have stout spines and, like other nightshades, the plants are considered toxic containing glycoalkaloids. The fruit, reminiscent of small tomatoes, turns red when ripe and is eaten by numerous birds and animals.

The common name, soda apple, is a bit of a mystery; its derivation is unknown. The thorny branches, stripped of leaves, but with ripe fruit present, were used in dried flower arrangements in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It has been suggested that these floral arrangements present in the popular soda fountain shops gave the plant its name. (A. Shuey, pers.comm.)

Another possible derivation comes from a legendary plant—the apple of Sodom or Dead Sea apple. The myth says that a marvelous plant with beautiful fruit grew in the area where the city of Sodom once stood. When the fruit was picked though, it vanished in smoke and left ashes in the hand. Accepted as a real plant, various Medieval and later adventurers sought this odd creation. The Sodom apple became a metaphor for an object desired, but once possessed, brought only disappointment. (The Century Dictionary, 1889)

Linnaeus named a nightshade from Africa for this legend, Solanum sodomaeum. This 'original' apple of Sodom resembles the Carolina horsenettle, a plant also named by Linnaeus. The Carolina horsenettle (Solanum carolinense) was called Sodom apple in early America. The name, soda apple, may simply be a mispronunciation of Sodom apple. Two other similar thorny, large-leafed nightshades are also known as soda apples: the aquatic (S. tampicense) and the tropical (S. viarum).