Above: Bittersweet Nightshade near the Duck Pond in Madison, Wisconsin on June 9, 2022.
Bittersweet Nightshade - Solanum dulcamara (Introduced/Naturalized)
Bittersweet Nightshade flowers are in loose clusters. Each flower has five, star-shaped purple petals with a yellow column of stamens tightly encasing a single style. The purple petals flair and curl back like a trout lily.
Bittersweet Nightshade is a woody, perennial vine, which scrambles over other plants.
Bittersweet Nightshade has oval shaped berries that start out green and turn red as they ripen.
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade has egg shaped leaves that are 1 1/4" to 4 inches long and 3/4" to 2 1/2" inches wide. The leaves taper to a pointed or blunt tip. Many leaves have 2 small lobes at the base.
Other names: Bitter Nightshade, Climbing Nightshade, Deadly Nightshade.
Blooms: June - September.
For more information on Bittersweet Nightshade, visit Wikipedia.
Or, for information on Bittersweet Nightshade visit the Wisconsin State Herbarium.
Bittersweet Nightshade
Solanum dulcamara
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade near Duck Pond in Madison, Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin (6/9/22)
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade near Agawa Path in Madison, Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin (6/13/19)
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade near Agawa Path in Madison, Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin (7/05/20)
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade near Duck Pond in Madison, Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin (7/31/21)
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade near Agawa Path in Madison, Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin (9/04/21)
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade berries forming on plant near Duck Pond in Madison, Wisconsin (7/31/21)
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade berries forming on plant overhanging CCC stone wall in Madison, Wisconsin (8/15/22)
Above: Bittersweet Nightshade specimen collected in in Myrick Marsh near La Crosse, Wisconsin on June 23, 1971.
Above: 1891 Bittersweet Nightshade botanical illustration.
Above: 1885 Bittersweet Nightshade botanical illustration.
Above: 1853 Bittersweet Nightshade botanical illustration.
Above: 1913 Bittersweet Nightshade botanical illustration.
Above: Nightshade Wild Flower Children by Elizabeth Gordon with illustration by M. T. (Penny) Ross.