Out walking in the vineyards the other day I noticed this plant with its strikingly unusual flowers and its little red berries.
It’s “dulcamara”, which is a plant I know from my homeopathic studies. Its fuller name is “solanum dulcamara” which helps us to realise it is from the same plant family which other “solan…” plants belong to. That family is the Solonacaeae family.
The Solonacaeae family is a fascinating one to explore if you want to look at the relationships between the plant and human worlds. Some of them are staple foods – potatoes and tomatoes for example. But others are hallucinogenics – belladonna, hyoscyamus and stramonium being striking examples. Witches were said to make up a paste which included some of these hallucinogens and applied it to their skin with a stick – the origin of the “flying sick” perhaps?
In fact a lot of these plants can be poisonous to humans and I often wonder how human beings first got the knowledge to enable them to distinguish between the nutritious and the poisonous – trial and error? Sickness and health? Life and death?
If you are at all interested in looking into “ethnobotany” this is a good family to start with!
Yes, the common name is Bittersweet Climbing Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara L) and I made a flower essence with this plant in my friend’s yard a few years ago. While I am not clear of what the homeopathic remedy of Dulcamara does (or for what type), I had placed this essence in a blend with others for enhancing my psychic connections. Thanks for sharing this, I love the colors of this plant!