Solanum dulcamara

Native to Northern Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Indian Subcontinent. Introduced and naturalized in North America.

Moist. Thickets, clearings, wood openings.

June to September

Purple or violet

Climbs 2′ to 8′ tall

This is a sprawling perennial vine that rises from rhizomes. It may be found trailing over adjacent shrubs and bushes. It often forms colonies.

Young stems are purple and are hairless or sparsely covered with straight, stiff, upward-pointing hairs. Older stems are brown and woody.

The leaves are alternate, triangular in outline, ¾″ to 3″ long, ⅔″ to 2″ wide, on long, slender leaf stalks. Some are unlobed, others are divided into a large terminal leaflet and two small basal leaflets or lobes. The margins are untoothed. The upper surface is hairless or sparsely covered with straight, stiff, upward-pointing hairs.

The inflorescence is a 1″ to 3″ wide branched cluster of 6 to 12 flowers. The clusters are at the end of purple or violet, ⅔″ to 1½″ long stalks arising from the leaf axils and at the end of the stems. The individual flowers are on nodding, closely-clustered stalks.

The flowers are ⅓″ to 1½″ wide. There are 5 purple or violet petals that are widely spreading, eventually curving backward, and form no tube at the base. There are 5 stamens with large yellow anthers projecting from the center of the petals. The anthers are fused into a cone around the style. The style is longer than, and protrudes from, the anther cone.

The fruit is an oval, ¼″ long berry, green when young, turning yellow, then orange, and finally bright red when ripe.