Start the week with a wildflower No 60. Bittersweet, Woody nightshade, Solanum dulcamara. Solonaceae, Nightshade family

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Our insects’ food supplies are dwindling with many flowers setting seed early in this drought. Happily, a shaded verge just beyond the last house on the Bath Rd is still providing a lifeline of wild marjoram, wild basil, chicory and this week’s plant, Bittersweet.   Also known as woody nightshade it has a woody base and long stems which scramble along hedgerows for support.  Some of its green berries have already turned bright red - a welcome feast, if left to grow, for birds who in turn will spread the seeds. The plant doesn’t produce nectar, and relies for pollination on bees able to “buzz pollinate” (not something a honeybee can do). The bee holds onto a flower and uses its flight muscles to bzzzzzz at the right frequency to open pores in the yellow cone of stamens, releasing the pollen. 


Bittersweet is poisonous, but a good name would be “not-so-poisonous” nightshade to distinguish it from its aptly named ‘deadly nightshade’ cousin. This has black berries and contains additional toxic chemicals such as atropine. Many other species in this family are staples of our diet, such as potato and tomato. 


Bittersweet is a direct translation from the species name dulcamara - Latin for bitter and sweet. The bitter taste, a further protection from inadvertent poisoning apparently has a sweet aftertaste. I am not about to check!  This was linked in medieval times to concepts of fidelity, with bittersweet featuring in tapestries, wall paintings and bridal bouquets. Pigments from the berries were used for illuminating manuscripts and colouring fabrics.


In times gone by mythical powers were attributed to the plant. Placing dried leaves under your pillow could heal your broken heart and the herbalist Nicholas Culpeper described it as “good to remove witchcraft both in men and beast, and all sudden diseases whatsoever.’ Garlands of berries were hung around animals necks to ward off evil.


Bittersweet is no longer used medicinally, but was valued in the past for skin problems and rheumatism. 


Listen out for a bzzzz if you spot this plant.