Irish wildflowers BSBI map

Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara, Fuath gorm

Woody Nightshade / Bittersweet
Solanum dulcamara
Fuath gorm
Family: Solanaceae

Flowering time: June-September. Perennial. Native.

The clusters of downward-hanging purple flowers with yellow anthers and reflexed petals are followed by poisonous red egg-shaped berries. Lower leaves are stalked, usually with small lobes at base, upper leaves have 3 leaflets. Stems are woody at base, scrambling or climbing to 2m.

Damp woods, hedges, streamsides but less frequent in western Ireland

Similar: S. dulcamara var. marinum. Prostrate, on shingle beaches


Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara, Fuath gorm

Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara, Fuath gorm
Woody Nightshade / Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara, Fuath gorm
Photographs: Bantry, Co. Cork

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