A Trio of Nightshades

There are three plants which go by the common name of nightshade: Deadly Nightshade, Atropa belladonna, Woody Nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, and Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum.

Deadly nightshade has gone by many names, including belladonna, Devil’s cherries, Naughty Man’s cherries, Devil’s Herb, Great Morel, and Dwayberry. It was once known as Dwale. The origin of the word is unknown; one scholar believes it is derived from the Scandinavian word dool, which means sleep. Others believe dwale is derived from the French word deuil, which means grief. The atropain the scientific name refers to one of the Greek Fates, Atropos, who held the shears which cut the thread of human life. Belldonna is thought to refer to the practice of Italian ladies using the juice of the plant to dilate their pupils-this gave their eyes greater brilliancy. However, it could also refer to a superstition which says that the plant can take on the form of an enchantress of great beauty. It is also thought that the priests of the goddess Bellona drank an infusion of the herb before invoking the aid of this goddess of war.

Its poisonous nature is quite well known and has been used throughout the centuries. Poisoning by belladonna has the curious symptom of a complete loss of voice, along with continuous movements of the fingers and hands and bending of the trunk. It is supposedly the plant which poisoned Marcus Antonius’ troops during the Parthian wars. In the History of Scotland, there is the tale that Macbeth poisoned an army of invading Danes using a liquor infused with deadly nightshade. It was given to the Danes during a truce, so they did not suspect poison. When they fell into a deep sleep, the Scots fell upon them and murdered them easily.

Black nightshade is also known as Garden Nightshade or Petty Morel (to distinguish it from Deadly Nightshade, the Greater Morel). While it has a reputation as being exceedingly deadly, this is not the case. While it can be deadly, on the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius the leaves were once eaten like spinach. The berries of black nightshade are black like the berries of belladonna, but the flowers are white, unlike the dark purple flowers of belladonna.

Woody nightshade is also known as bittersweet nightshade, dulcamara, felonwood, and felonwort. In the Middle Ages the name dulcamara was written more properly as Amaradulcis, and literally means “bittersweet”. Felonwood and felonwort are not as sinister as they sound; felon is not referring to criminals, but rather to whitlow, which is inflammation of the toe or finger around the nail. The berries were used to sure this problem when other methods had failed. The plant was used for many medical conditions, including dissolving blood clots (in bruises), for rheumatism, fever, and as a restorative. Farmers used it as a charm around the necks of animals they thought to be under an evil eye. Bittersweet berries are red rather than black like deadly nightshade.