The fruits of Solanum dulcamara
Although appetizing in appearance to many people, the berries of Solanum dulcamara are best appreciated for their beauty rather than their flavour.
Most commonly known as bittersweet nightshade, or sometimes simply “bittersweet”, a gustatory experience with these berries will likely yield a sharp bitterness and very little sweetness.
Widely naturalized around the globe, Solanum dulcamara is a species native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. It also occurs in the remainder of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and some temperate places in the Southern Hemisphere, e.g., Tasmania; in these areas, it is often considered a weedy species. Typically sprawled out over other plants, this perennial vine usually grows to around 2m (~6.5 ft.). The inflorescences consist of clusters of purple flowers that are succeeded by the bright red fruits. Dispersal of seeds typically occurs through birds who seem tolerant, if not entirely resistant, to the bitter taste. Reproduction also occurs vegetatively, as stems can root after coming into contact with the soil.
Bittersweet nightshade is among a family filled with edible species; the Solanaceae or nightshade family also includes tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and potatoes. Solanum is a large, diverse genus with between 1500-2000 species, depending on your taxonomic point of view. The origin of Solanum is unknown, but dulcamara translates directly to “sweet-bitter” from the Latin words dulce (sweet) and amarus (bitter). Solanine, the poisonous compound responsible for toxicity in many Solanum species, was named after the genus when it was first isolated from berries of Solanum nigrum in 1820.
While some claim to experience sweetness in the berries after the bitterness passes, others report a sweetness before the bitterness. In any case, sickness of some magnitude seems to be the typical outcome of such experimentation. The entire plant is thought to be poisonous, but cases of fatal poisoning are rare (though when they do occur, children are the most likely victims). The English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper wrote of uses other than ingesting it in The Complete Herbal:
It is under the planet Mercury, and a notable herb of his also, if it be rightly gathered under his influence. It is excellently good to remove witchcraft both in men and beasts, as also all sudden diseases whatsoever. Being tied round about the neck, is one of the most admirable remedies for the vertigo or dizziness in the head; and that is the reason (as Tragus saith) the people in Germany commonly hang it about their cattle’s necks, when they fear any such evil hath betided them: Country people commonly take the berries of it, and having bruised them, apply them to felons, and thereby soon rid their fingers of such troublesome guests.
You can read the rest of Culpeper’s account via Project Gutenberg: Solanum dulcamara (as Amara Dulcis), or view additional photographs via CalPhotos: Solanum dulcamara.
One of my favorite garden “weeds”. The beautiful fruit look like clusters of rubies when they are lit by the sun and the purple-and-yellow-flowers are very pretty, too. Thanks for the info about how to use them on cattle and felons! LOL
Such appealing berries!
I’m really commenting to say that “felon” in this case is “… an infection in the fleshy part of the fingertip. If left untreated, a felon can cause a buildup of pus, painful pressure, and damage to nearby tissue. Prompt medical attention is needed to prevent complications such as spreading infection or death of nearby tissue.” From https://westhoustonmedical.com/hl/?/941769/Felon. Not a term I’ve ever heard.
This one I love, beautiful berries and nice flowers. Here in Sweden I wouldn’t say that it sprawls over other plants. I’ve often seen it climb on fences next to railway tracks, but it’s more modest and nowhere near 2m.
The flowers, with their reflexed petals, are also quite beautiful:
https://weed-id.com/wp-content/plugins/gnuGallery2/index.php?gnugallery_get_image=Solanum%2Fdulcamara%2F5.jpg
While working in the herbarium at Kent State University in Ohio (USA) I received a call from the local county coroner asking about red berries that a child allegedly ate who subsequently passed away. He wanted to know the identity of the berries and if they could be responsible for the child’s death. After I asked him some questions about plant features we decided that this was the cause of death – very unfortunate.
Given that is purportedly so bitter, I have to wonder why childrens’ tastebuds aren’t able to signal “bad”.
I am amazed that so many people describe the flowers and berries of solanum dulcamara as beautiful! As a child I was raised never to touch “deadly nightshade” as it could kill a person, and my mother pulled it up wherever she found it. I taught my children the same rule, but now I am going back to read all the comments here, and try to reprogramme my brain to accept this new concept.
Ditto I was taught that the berries were poisonous this is what I know:
Toxicity
Although this is not the same plant as deadly nightshade or belladonna (an uncommon and extremely poisonous plant), bittersweet nightshade is somewhat poisonous and has caused loss of livestock and pet poisoning and, more rarely, sickness and even death in children who have eaten the berries. Fortunately, bittersweet nightshade has a strong, unpleasant odor, so most animals will avoid it, and poisonings from this plant are not very frequent.
The entire plant contains solanine, the same toxin found in green potatoes and other members of the nightshade family, and it also contains a glycoside called dulcamarine, similar in structure and effects to atropine, one of the toxins found in deadly nightshade. The toxin amount varies with soil, light, climate and growth stage. Ripe fruits are generally less toxic than the leaves and unripe berries, but even ripe berries can be poisonous.
The only analytical reference I can find for dulcamarine is the following from Henrietta’s Herbal :
Wittstein (1852) supposed another alkaloid, dulcamarine, to be present, but Geissler (1875) showed that this substance was a glucoside, and not an alkaloid, yielding on decomposition with dilute acids dulcamaretin and sugar. He assigned the formula C22H34O10 to dulcamarine, and C16H26O6 to dulcamaretin. (Flückiger, Pharmacographia, 2d ed., p. 451.)
Of course a nitrogen-free glycoside may be able to mimic the effects of atropine (though I would want to see some sort of reference for that before I would believe it) but cannot be said to resemble it structurally.
There does appear to a text-book repetition (being repeated since 1852?) where people write that dulcamarine is like atropine in its effects with other authors adding that it is similar in structure to atropine but without attribution to any original research that shows this. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some of the simple tropanes such as calystegines present in Solanum dulcamara but those are very different in structure and action from the more complex tropanes such as atropine.
Solanus was the Latin name for the East wind, sometimes called Subsolanus, a direct translation of the Greek ἀπηλιώτης (apheliotes). It was the wind that came from the [direction of the rising] sun. Perhaps those glowing red berries reminded the Ancients of the rising sun, if this was the nightshade that gave rise to the name. Solanus was little talked about compared to the North, South and West winds but he was associated with the season of fruit and grain harvests.
It releases a distinctive, somewhat unpleasant odor when being extirpated from the garden. Something like bruised tomato vines, come to think of it, but not quite so pungent as tomato vine.
I once ate one of the berries for an experiment and it was not pleasant. My throat felt strange and itchy, some numbness, vertigo, and general malaise. It passed in about half an hour.