BITTERSWEET
Solanum dulcamara
COMMON NAMES: Bittersweet, nightshade, violet bloom, felonwort, mortal, fever twig.
FEATURES: Naturalized in the United States from native Europe and Asia. The zigzag, sprawling, slender
vine climbs along trees, hedges, thickets, and fences, especially in moist places, seldom exceeding 7 or 8
feet in length.
In June and July the purplish or blue flowers can be seen arranged in cymes that are succeeded in the
autumn by attractive bright red juicy berries that hang on the vine for several months. The attraction is for
decoration only, they should not be eaten. The leaves are acute and generally smooth, of a dull green
color. When fresh the leaf stems have an unpleasant odor, which is lost by drying. The root is long and
almost orange-colored. Twigs and root bark should be collected after the foliage has fallen. Taste is first
bitter, then sweet.
MEDICINAL PARTS: Root, bark, twigs.
SOLVENTS: Diluted alcohol, boiling water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Alterative, diaphoretic, discutient, diuretic, deobstruent, narcotic, resolvent.
USES: Known to the original people of North America, folk medicine, and herbalists for skin conditions
in which the symptom is obvious, but the source of the real culprit is usually largely in the glandular
system and bloodstream.
It is serviceable in cutaneous diseases and syphilitic conditions, as it excites the venereal functions,
and is in fact capable of wide application and use in leprosy, teeter and all skin diseases, eczema,
scrofula, etc. For rheumatic and cachectic affections, ill-conditioned ulcers, glandular swellings, and in
obstructed menstruation it also serves a good purpose.
Dr. O. P. Brown (1875): “The Complete Herbalist regard this plant as important as any in the Herbal
Kingdom, and too little justice is done to it by those under whose care the sick are intrusted.” Recent
information from Rodale Health Bulletin, September 1966: Dr. Kupchan said, “We’re using Folk
Medicine and Herbalism as source of leads. One of the plants we’re studying, Solanum dulcamara, also
called ‘Bitter sweet’ or Woody nightshade, was recommended by Galen in A.D. 150 as a treatment for
Tumours, Cancer and Warts.” He added, “A substance from red milkweed or ‘Cancerillo’ used for
centuries by Central American Indians to treat Cancer inhibits the growth of lab-cultured human cancer