Bittersweet Nightshade 50+ Seeds

(Solanum dulcamara) Zones 4 - 8. Bittersweet succeeds in full sun to light shade. If being grown for its medicinal uses, the plant is best placed in a dry and exposed position. Sow seed in the spring in a cold frame. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer. The seeds may also be planted in the autumn in the prepared garden bed.

Bittersweet is a semi-woody herbaceous perennial vine, which scrambles over other plants, capable of reaching a height of 4 m where suitable support is available, but more often 1-2 m high. The leaves are 4-12 cm long, roughly arrowhead-shaped, and often lobed at the base. The flowers are in loose clusters of 3-20, (1-1.5 cm) across, star-shaped, with five purple petals and yellow stamens and style pointing forward. The fruit is an ovoid red berry about 1 cm long, soft and juicy, poisonous to humans and livestock but edible for birds, which disperse the seeds widely. As with most Solanum species, the foliage is also poisonous to humans.

Other common names include Trailing Nightshade, Bittersweet, Trailing Bittersweet, Climbing Nightshade, Blue Bindweed, Bitter Nightshade, Fellenwort, Dogwood, Woody Nightshade, Poisonflower, Poisonberry, Snakeberry, and Scarlet Berry. An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils, but prefers a damp shady position and a neutral to alkaline soil.