Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara)



Until I started out attempting to identify all aspects of nature some 35 years ago I always thought that this plant was deadly nightshade! However, one of the first unusual plants I found back then turned out to be, on investigation, deadly nightshade and so I had to hastily modify a fair number of records I had made of this one to bittersweet. It was a bitter-sweet experience!

Bittersweet, also known as woody nightshade, is a member of the nightshade family and is also related to the Potato. The flowers and berries are very similar to those you might find on Potatoes growing in your garden or allotment.

Flowering from June through until September in a wide range of habitat bittersweet is common here in Dorset.

Comments