A Year in the Valley

This is also known as Bittersweet, due to its flavour, though the red berries are poisonous in common with all the nightshades. The flowers of Woody Nightshade and Deadly Nightshade are similar – bright purple and yellow – and to start with I assumed this was Deadly Nightshade. However, look closely at the flower stems and you will see that they are also purple. This identifies the plant as a Woody Nightshade. This is the sort of detail I would have missed, had I not been doing this project. Later on, the berries are a further identifier. Those of the Deadly Nightshade are black.