A-Z of Services

Bittersweet

Name	Solanum dulcamara
Also known as	Woody Nightshade
	Hedgerows, banks, disturbed ground, woodland clearings, especially if wet.
	perennial, climber
	The Nightshade family has a nasty reputation: Henbane was the source of the poison used by the infamous Dr Crippen, yet potatoes and tomatoes are related. Don't ever eat their leaves! Symptoms include dry mouth and throat, an accelerated heartbeat, hallucinations, coma and death depending on the member of the nightshade family involved. Italian women used extracts from Deadly nightshade for cosmetic eye drops. The plant's scientific name, Atropa belladonna, reveals this link.
	Culpeper recommended "A cloth wet in the Juyce of the berries and applied to the Testicles or Cods upon any Swelling therein giveth much ease." Surely a case of kill or cure.
	up to 2m (6ft)
	June - September
	Scrambling habit, purple flowers and the bunches of berries that turn from green to red when ripe.

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Key

	Habitat

	Plant Type

	Traditions & Culture

	Medicinal Qualities

	Size

	Flowering Season

	Distinguishing Features

	Poisonous

	Native or Foreign

	Please do not pick, collect or disturb this plant