Confusing woody nightshade with deadly nightshade
I thought I knew what deadly nightshade, Atropa belladonna, looks like, but it appears I was wrong!
Woody nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, is what I was thinking of, but it is nothing like it – much more spindly and obviously from the Solanum family.
![deadly nightshade flower atropa belladonna seaford head may 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/deadly-nightshade-flower-atropa-belladonna-seaford-head-may-2020-1024x683.jpg)
Atropa is a substantial plant
I saw my first deadly nightshade in flower mid-May in a recently cleared wooded area on chalk near the sea. It was a large clump which I at first mistook for a planted shrub as it was so large and neat in form. It was about a metre high and the purple flowers were about 2 to 3 cm long.
Don’t touch any part of this plant, it is poisonous!
![deadly nightshade clump atropa belladonna seaford head may 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/deadly-nightshade-clump-atropa-belladonna-seaford-head-may-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![deadly nightshade atropa belladonna seaford head may 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/deadly-nightshade-atropa-belladonna-seaford-head-may-2020-1024x768.jpg)
![deadly nightshade flower](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/deadly-nightshade-flower-1024x683.jpg)
Woody nightshade and its relatives are familiar to gardeners
Plants of the solanaceae family are well known to gardeners – the flowers of potatoes and tomatoes are similar. I once had a climbing solanum plant on my patio. I even grew an edible berry called Wonderberry from the same family, but it wasn’t very tasty! I was also put off by the possibility of getting seedlings mixed up with poisonous weeds.
![woody nightshade solanum dulcamara bishopstone may 2020](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/woody-nightshade-solanum-dulcamara-bishopstone-may-2020-768x1024.jpg)
Seaside subspecies of Woody nightshade – Solanum dulcamara
Woody nightshade is also known as Bittersweet and tends to grow in woodland areas, like the one pictured above. However there is a seaside subspecies which grows at Rye Harbour nature reserve in Sussex, where it is found in shingle. The variety is marinum.
![bittersweet nightshade flower solanum dulcamara rye harbour may 2021](https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/bittersweet-nightshade-flower-solanum-dulcamara-rye-harbour-may-2021-600x450.jpg)
Blog posts mentioning Deadly nightshade – Atropa belladonna are tagged nightshade along with Woody nightshade and other solanaceae. The tags Atropa and Solanum will also work.
e.g. https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/tag/nightshade/
Related species Henbane – Hyoscyamus niger has its own page.