# Woody nightshade (Solanum dulcamara)

*Bittersweet; *Dulcamara**

**Known today as.** *Solanum dulcamara*, a climbing nightshade of hedges, with purple and yellow flowers and scarlet berries.

Kind: Plant  
Poisoning: Tropane (anticholinergic) poisoning (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/anticholinergic)  
Toxic: yes

> **Caution.** The berries are poisonous, and attractive to children.

## What was it used for?

The stalks in decoction, for skin complaints, rheumatism, and obstructions of the liver.

## What does modern science say?

The berries and stems contain solanine and related alkaloids; it has no proven use.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **solasodine**: 
- **solanine**: 
- **dulcamarine**: 

**Mechanism.** The steroidal glycoalkaloids inhibit cholinesterase and disrupt cell membranes; they are the same family as the solanine of green potatoes.

**Dose.** The berries have poisoned children, rarely fatally; the stems are far weaker.

**Standing.** Approved in Germany as a traditional remedy for eczema, outwardly.

## What lore surrounds it?

Its Latin name, “bitter-sweet,” is for the taste of the stalk, bitter then sweet. In England it was hung on cattle and about the necks of animals to guard them from the evil eye and witchcraft.

## What did the older authorities say?

**Culpeper.** Opens the whole Herbal with this plant, under the name Amara Dulcis: “some call it Mortal, others Bitter-sweet; some Woody Night-shade, and others Felon-wort.” The berries, he says, taste “just as the crabs which we in Sussex call Bittersweet, viz. sweet at first and bitter afterwards.” It is a Mercurial herb, and “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.” Country people bruise the berries and apply them to felons, “and thereby soon rid their fingers of such troublesome guests.”

## Sources

- Grieve, M. (1931). *A Modern Herbal*, “Nightshade, Woody.”
- Gerard, J. (1597). *The Herball*.
- Culpeper, N. (1653). *The Complete Herbal*, “Amara Dulcis.” Project Gutenberg #49513.
- Nelson, L. S., et al. (2007). *Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants*.

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*Woody nightshade.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/woody-nightshade

Historical description, not medical advice.