Common Nightshade
Parts Usually Used
Solanum dulcamara: bark of the root, twigs. Solanum nigrum: leaves, herb.
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Any of several of the plants of the genus Solanum are called nightshade. Solanum dulcamara is shrubby, thumb-thick, ashy-green, somewhat angular, climbing stem can reach a length off up to 10 feet. The dark green (or purplish when young) leaves are alternate and variable in shape (may be cordate, landeolate-ovate, or hastate). The purple, star-shaped flowers appear in paniculate clusters on shore lateral or terminal peduncles from May to August.
The fruit is a scarlet, bitter berry that hangs on the vine for months after the leaves have fallen. Solanum nigrum (black nightshade): its erect, angular, branching stem grows 1 to 2 feet high and may be glabrous or covered with inward bent hairs. The leaves are alternate, dark green, ovate, and wavy-toothed or nearly entire. Drooping, lateral, umbel-like clusters of white or pale violet flowers appear from July to October.
The fruit is a many-seeded, pea-sized, purple or black berry.
Where Found
Solanum dulcamara is a perennial woody vine found in moist areas, around houses, and among hedges and thickets in the eastern and north-central states, the Pacific coast, and in Europe. This common woody vine is found around barnyards and waste places. S. and southern Canada.
Medicinal Properties
Solanum dulcamara: anodyne, diuretic, emetic, herpatic, purgative. Solanum nigrum: diaphoretic, narcotic, purgative.
Uses
Historically, herbalists utilized bittersweet nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, primarily for external applications. It was traditionally prepared as a poultice for gout, warts, ringworm, sores, and old ulcers. When combined with chamomile, practitioners made ointments intended for swellings, bruises, sprains, and corns, or mixed it with yellow dock for various skin conditions. The plant has also served as a source material in the commercial manufacture of steroids.
Herbal traditions associated with black nightshade, Solanum nigrum, included the internal administration of the leaves to promote perspiration and bowel movements. The fresh plant juice was historically utilized with the intent to address fevers and pain, and extracts were incorporated into teas across India, China, Europe, Japan, and Africa. Externally, folk practitioners applied the juice or leaf ointments for general skin complaints.
In various culinary traditions, the berries were boiled and prepared into preserves, jams, and pies.
Warning
Bittersweet nightshade (solanum dulcamara) should not be taken internally without medical supervision. Contains steroids, toxic alkaloids, and glucosides. Will cause vomiting, vertigo, convulsions, weakened heart, and paralysis. Take black nightshade internally only under medical supervision. Some varieties contain solanine, steroids; deaths have been reported from use. In India, some varieties are eaten as vegetables, but similar varieties may be violently toxic.
There is a deadly nightshade; be sure not to confuse them. Even so, use moderately.
Bibliography
Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs , by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814) Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary , 15th Edition, F. A.
Davis Company, 1915 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.