Solanum dulcamara

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Bittersweet nightshade
Solanum dulcamara (5386574212).jpg
Solanum dulcamara [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species:
S. dulcamara
Binomial name
Solanum dulcamara

Solanum dulcamara is a species of vine in the genus Solanum (which also includes the potato and the tomato) of the family Solanaceae. Common names include bittersweet, bittersweet nightshade, bitter nightshade, blue bindweed, Amara Dulcis, [3] climbing nightshade, [4] felonwort, fellenwort, felonwood, poisonberry, poisonflower, scarlet berry, snakeberry , [5] [6] [7] trailing bittersweet, trailing nightshade, violet bloom, and woody nightshade.

Contents

It is native to Europe and Asia, and widely naturalised elsewhere, including North America.

Overview

Distribution of S. dulcamara. Solanum-dulcamara-Distribution-PhytoKeys-022-001-g036.jpg
Distribution of S. dulcamara.

It occurs in a very wide range of habitats, from woodlands to scrubland, hedges and marshes.

Solanum dulcamara 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, [8] soft and juicy, with the aspect and odour of a tiny tomato, and edible for some birds, which disperse the seeds widely.[ citation needed ] However, the berry is poisonous to humans and livestock, [9] [10] and the berry's attractive and familiar look makes it dangerous for children.

It is native to northern Africa, Europe, and Asia, but has spread throughout the world. The plant is relatively important in the diet of some species of birds such as European thrushes, [11] which feed on its fruits, being immune to its poisons, and scatter the seeds abroad. It grows in all types of terrain with a preference for wetlands [12] and the understory of riparian forests. Along with other climbers, it creates a dark and impenetrable shelter for varied animals. The plant grows well in dark areas in places where it can receive the light of morning or afternoon. An area receiving bright light for many hours reduces its development. [12] It grows more easily in rich wet soils with plenty of nitrogen. When grown for medicinal purposes, it is best grown in a dry, exposed environment. [13]

It is a nonnative species in the United States. [14]

History

Illustration by Kurt Stuber, published in Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thome, Flora von Deutschland, Osterreich und der Schweiz, 1885, Gera, Germany. Illustration Solanum dulcamara0.jpg
Illustration by Kurt Stüber, published in Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885, Gera, Germany.

Solanum dulcamara has been valued by herbalists since ancient Greek times. In the Middle Ages the plant was thought to be effective against witchcraft, and was sometimes hung around the neck of cattle to protect them from the "evil eye". [15] [16] [17] It has been suggested that the plant was used both medicinally and to induce altered states of mind in Anglo-Saxon England. [18]

John Gerard's Herball (1597) states that "the juice is good for those that have fallen from high places, and have been thereby bruised or beaten, for it is thought to dissolve blood congealed or cluttered anywhere in the intrals and to heale the hurt places." [17]

Biological activity

This plant is one of the less poisonous members of the Solanaceae. Instances of poisoning in humans are very rare on account of the fruit's intensely bitter taste. Incidentally, the fruit has been reported to have a sweet aftertaste, hence the vernacular name bittersweet. [19]

The poison in this species is believed to be solanine. [20] The alkaloids, solanine (from unripe fruits), solasodine (from flowers) and beta-solamarine (from roots) have been found to inhibit the growth of E. coli and S. aureus . [21] Solanine and solasodine extracted from Solanum dulcamara showed antidermatophytic activity against Chrysosporium indicum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and T. simil, thus it may cure ringworm. [22]

The stems are approved by the German Commission E for external use as supportive therapy in chronic eczema. [23]

Medicinal use

Solanum dulcamara has a variety of documented medicinal uses, all of which are advised to be approached with proper caution as the entirety of the plant is considered to be poisonous. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally. There have only been records of medicinal use for adults (not children) and it is possible to be allergic to Solanum dulcamara; medicinal use is not advised in these cases. [24]

Use of stem

The stem of Solanum dulcamara is believed to be considerably less poisonous than the rest of the plant, and it has mostly been used in treatment for conditions of the skin. There are records of it being used to treat mild recurrent eczema, psoriasis, scabies, and dermatomycosis. [25] [26] Stems are harvested when they do not yet have leaves (or the leaves have already fallen) and are shredded into small pieces. They are mostly known to be applied in the form of liquid onto the skin, but infusing it into a drink is also possible, though not recommended. [27] The stem has also been used in treatment for bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia. [26]

Use of leaves, fruit, and root

The leaves of Solanum dulcamara have been known to treat warts and tumors, while the fruit can treat conditions of the respiratory tract and joints. [24] It has been documented that Indigenous people of North America used the roots for relief of fever and nausea. [28]

Symbolism

Solanum dulcamara has been used as a symbol of fidelity. This is in reference to its curious property of combining extreme bitterness with surprising sweetness – hence its common name "bittersweet". This symbolism is seen in Christian art from the Middle Ages as well as in bridal wreaths. [29]

Related Research Articles

<i>Solanum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant. It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae, comprising around 1,500 species. It also contains the so-called horse nettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers and fruit.

<i>Atropa belladonna</i> Species of toxic flowering plant in the nightshade family.

Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a toxic perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes and aubergine (eggplant). It is native to Europe and Western Asia, including Turkey. Its distribution extends from Ireland in the west to western Ukraine and the Iranian province of Gilan in the east. It is also naturalised or introduced in some parts of Canada, North Africa and the United States.

<i>Solanum carolinense</i> Species of plant

Solanum carolinense, the Carolina horsenettle, is not a true nettle, but a member of the Solanaceae, or nightshade family. It is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to the southeastern United States, though its range has expanded throughout much of temperate North America. The plant is an invasive in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The stem and undersides of larger leaf veins are covered with prickles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solanine</span> Glycoalkaloid poison found in the nightshade family of plants

Solanine is a glycoalkaloid poison found in species of the nightshade family within the genus Solanum, such as the potato, the tomato, and the eggplant. It can occur naturally in any part of the plant, including the leaves, fruit, and tubers. Solanine has pesticidal properties, and it is one of the plant's natural defenses. Solanine was first isolated in 1820 from the berries of the European black nightshade, after which it was named. It belongs to the chemical family of saponins.

<i>Solanum mauritianum</i> Species of tree

Solanum mauritianum is a small tree or shrub native to South America, including Northern Argentina, Southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Its common names include earleaf nightshade, woolly nightshade, flannel weed, bugweed, tobacco weed, tobacco bush, wild tobacco and kerosene plant.

<i>Solanum aviculare</i> Species of plant

Solanum aviculare, commonly called poroporo or pōporo, bumurra (Dharug), kangaroo apple, pam plum (Australia), or New Zealand nightshade, is a soft-wooded shrub native to New Zealand and the east coast of Australia.

<i>Solanum pseudocapsicum</i> Species of plant

Solanum pseudocapsicum is a nightshade species with mildly poisonous fruit. It is commonly known as the Jerusalem cherry, Madeira winter cherry, or, ambiguously, "winter cherry". These perennials can be grown decoratively as house plants, but in some areas of South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand it is regarded as a weed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glycoalkaloid</span> Class of chemical compounds

Glycoalkaloids are a family of chemical compounds derived from alkaloids to which sugar groups are appended. Several are potentially toxic, most notably the poisons commonly found in the plant species Solanum dulcamara and other plants in the genus Solanum, including potato.

<i>Solanum aculeastrum</i> Species of plant

Solanum aculeastrum is commonly known as soda apple, sodaapple nightshade, goat apple, poison apple, or more ambiguously as "bitter-apple". It is a poisonous nightshade species from Africa and only distantly related to true apples. The term "soda apple" probably derives from "Sodom apple", modified due to the fruit's detergent properties.

<i>Solanum americanum</i> Species of flowering plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae

Solanum americanum, commonly known as American black nightshade, small-flowered nightshade or glossy nightshade, is a herbaceous flowering plant of wide though uncertain native range. The certain native range encompasses the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Melanesia, New Guinea, and Australia.

<i>Solanum nigrum</i> Species of flowering plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae

Solanum nigrum, the European black nightshade or simply black nightshade or blackberry nightshade, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae, native to Eurasia and introduced in the Americas, Australasia, and South Africa. Ripe berries and cooked leaves of edible strains are used as food in some locales, and plant parts are used as a traditional medicine. Some other species may also be referred to as "black nightshade".

<i>Solanum mammosum</i> Species of plant

Solanum mammosum, commonly known as nipplefruit, fox head, cow's udder, or apple of Sodom, is an inedible Pan-American tropical fruit. The plant is grown for ornamental purposes, in part because of the distal end of the fruit's resemblance to a human breast, while the proximal end looks like a cow's udder. It is an annual in the family Solanaceae, and part of the genus Solanum, making the plant a relative of the eggplant, tomato, and potato. This poisonous fruit is native to South America, but has been naturalized in Southern Mexico, Greater Antilles, Central America, and the Caribbean. The plant adapts well to most soils, but thrives in moist, loamy soil.

<i>Mandragora officinarum</i> Species of plant

Mandragora officinarum is the type species of the plant genus Mandragora in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is often known as mandrake, although this name is also used for other plants. As of 2015, sources differed significantly in the species they use for Mandragora plants native to the Mediterranean region. The main species found around the Mediterranean is called Mandragora autumnalis, the autumn mandrake. In a broader circumscription, all the plants native to the regions around the Mediterranean Sea are placed in M. officinarum, which thus includes M. autumnalis. The names autumn mandrake and Mediterranean mandrake are then used. Whatever the circumscription, Mandragora officinarum is a perennial herbaceous plant with ovate leaves arranged in a rosette, a thick upright root, often branched, and bell-shaped flowers followed by yellow or orange berries.

<i>Solanum xanti</i> Species of plant

Solanum xanti, known commonly as chaparral nightshade, purple nightshade, and San Diego nightshade, is a member of the genus Solanum. It is native to the Western United States in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Oregon, and to northwest Mexico in Baja California.

<i>Celastrus scandens</i> Species of vine

Celastrus scandens, commonly called American bittersweet or bittersweet, is a species of Celastrus that blooms mostly in June and is commonly found on rich, well-drained soils of woodlands.

<i>Solanum erianthum</i> Species of plant

Solanum erianthum is a species of nightshade that is native to southern North America and northern South America. It has been introduced to other parts of the world and has a nearly pantropical distribution. Common names include mullein nightshade, velvet nightshade, and salvadora. The potatoes are not the fruits of the trees, they are the leaves.

<i>Solanum trilobatum</i> Species of herb

Solanum trilobatum is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is native to India, Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia. It is used as a medicinal herb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solanidine</span> Chemical compound

Solanidine is a poisonous steroidal alkaloid chemical compound that occurs in plants of the family Solanaceae, such as potato and Solanum americanum. The sugar portion of glycoalkaloids hydrolyses in the body, leaving the solanidine portion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-fruit nightshade</span> Species of fruit and plant

Solanum virginianum, also called Surattense nightshade, yellow-fruit nightshade, yellow-berried nightshade, Indian nightshade,Thai green eggplant, or Thai striped eggplant, is a medicinal plant used mostly in India. Some parts of the plant, such as the fruit, are poisonous. Solanum surattense Burm. f. and Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. and Wendl. are synonyms of Solanum virginianum L..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solanaceae</span> Family of flowering plants that includes tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco

The Solanaceae, or the nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and ornamentals. Many members of the family contain potent alkaloids, and some are highly toxic, but many—including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, bell, and chili peppers—are used as food. The family belongs to the order Solanales, in the asterid group and class Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons). The Solanaceae consists of about 98 genera and some 2,700 species, with a great diversity of habitats, morphology and ecology.

References

  1. ↑ illustration by Kurt Stüber, published in Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany
  2. ↑ Sp. Pl. 1: 185. 1753 [1 May 1753] "Plant Name Details for Solanum dulcamura". IPNI . Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  3. ↑ Culpeper Plant Names Database, discussing various editions of Culpeper, for example Culpeper, Nicholas, The English physitian: or an astrologo-physical discourse of the vulgar herbs of this nation, London, Peter Cole, 1652.
  4. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Solanum dulcamara". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Blanchan, Neltje (2005). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
  6. ↑ "Almost any unfamiliar berry is or may be snake-berry, and all snake-berries are poisonous; so a boy dares not eat a berry till some one...". Needs verification but may come from Fannie D. Bergen (November 1892). "Popular American Plant Names". Botanical Gazette. 17 (11): 363–380. doi:10.1086/326860. S2CID   224830265.
  7. ↑ "Guide to Poisonous and Toxic Plants (Technical Guide #196)". US Army center for health promotion and preventive medicine, Entomological Sciences Program. July 1994. Archived from the original on May 4, 2008.
  8. ↑ Parnell, John A. N.; Cullen, Elaine L.; Webb, D. A.; Curtis, Tom (2011). Webb's an Irish flora. Cork: Cork University Press. ISBN   978-1-909005-08-2. OCLC   830022856.
  9. ↑ Victor King Chesnut (1898). "Bittersweet". Thirty Poisonous Plants of the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture. pp. 31–32. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  10. ↑ Umberto Quattrocchi (2016). CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). CRC Press. p. 3481. ISBN   978-1-4822-5064-0 . Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  11. ↑ Jones, Theresa. "Climbing nightshade". Outdoor Learning Lab. Greenfield Community College. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Solanum dulcamara". US Forest Service. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  13. ↑ "Solanum dulcamara Bittersweet. Bittersweet Nightshade, Climbing nightshade, Bittersweet, Deadly Nightshade, Poisonous PFAF Plant Database". pfaf.org. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  14. ↑ "Solanum dulcamara". US Forest Service. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  15. ↑ Drage, William (1665). Daimonomageia. A small treatise of sicknesses and diseases from witchcraft and supernatural causes, etc. p. 39.
  16. ↑ Culpeper, Nicholas (October 2006). Culpeper's Complete Herbal & English Physician. Applewood Books. pp. 1–2. ISBN   9781557090805.
  17. 1 2 Grieve, Maud (1971). A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses, Volume 1.
  18. ↑ Alaric Hall, "Madness, Medication—and Self-Induced Hallucination? Elleborus (and Woody Nightshade) in Anglo-Saxon England, 700–900", Leeds Studies in English, new series, 44 (2013), 43-69 (pp. 60–62).
  19. ↑ Mabey, Richard; Gibbons, Bob; Jones, Gareth Lovett (1997). Flora Britannica. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN   1-85619-377-2. OCLC   38725904.
  20. ↑ R. F. Alexander; G. B. Forbes & E. S. Hawkins (1948-09-11). "A Fatal Case of Solanine Poisoning". Br Med J. 2 (4575): 518. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4575.518. PMC   2091497 . PMID   18881287.
  21. ↑ Kumar, Padma; Sharma, Bindu; Bakshi, Nidhi (2009-05-20). "Biological activity of alkaloids from Solanum dulcamara L.". Natural Product Research. 23 (8). Informa UK Limited: 719–723. doi:10.1080/14786410802267692. ISSN   1478-6419. PMID   19418354. S2CID   25721657.
  22. ↑ Bakshi, N.; Kumar, P.; Sharma, M. (2008). "Antidermatophytic activity of some alkaloids from Solanum dulcamara". Indian Drugs. 45 (6): 483–484.
  23. ↑ "Bittersweet Nightshade". Drugs.com. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  24. 1 2 "Community herbal monograph on Solanum dulcamara L., stipites" (PDF). European Medicines Agency Science Medicines Health. 15 January 2013.
  25. ↑ "Woody nightshade stem" (PDF). European Medicines Agency Science Medicines Health. 12 July 2013.
  26. 1 2 "Целебные Травы | Паслен сладко-горький - Solanum dulcamara L." www.medherb.ru. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  27. ↑ "Solanum dulcamara Bittersweet. Bittersweet Nightshade, Climbing nightshade, Bittersweet, Deadly Nightshade, Poisonous PFAF Plant Database". pfaf.org. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  28. ↑ "BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database". naeb.brit.org. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  29. ↑ Kandeler, Riklef; Ullrich, Wolfram R. (2009). "Symbolism of plants: examples from European-Mediterranean culture presented with biology and history of art". Journal of Experimental Botany. 60 (11): 2955–2956. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erp207 . ISSN   0022-0957. JSTOR   24038282. PMID   19549625.
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