Wild Flowers Of Strathclyde Park
  
 

Bittersweet
Solanum dulcamara
of the Nightshade family
a perennial
1-4 m high
blooms June - September
likes damp places in woods, ditches and marshes
can be seen at the path side opposite the Roman Bath-house

   
Also known as Woody Nightshade, it is a plant which climbs by wrapping itself around other plants. The scientific name dulcamara derives from the Latin for 'bitter' and 'sweet', probably due to the toxic juice in the berries which at first taste bitter and then sweet. But don't try this out by eating the berries - they will cause sickness!