Black Nightshade
Solanum Nigrum

This Saturn plant favors borders between what is cultivated and what is wild just as Hekate knew the border between the dead and living well enough to lead Persephone from the Underworld back to the world of light and her mother, Demeter. Like its relatives (belladonna, mandrake, henbane, datura, scopolia), this herb is often involved in lunar magick or works related to death and is an herb of ritual magick. In traditional witchcraft, it is employed in rain magic. This magick herb contains solanine, a cardiac poison, the same stuff in tomato leaves and in green skins of potatoes. The unripe fruits are the most poisonous part, and the ripe berries are the least so. The amount of this alkaloid can be variable, and different people react differently to it. Maoris eat the leaves of this plant like spinach, and the ripe berries are made into jam in various This Saturn plant favors borders between what is cultivated and what is wild just as Hekate knew the border between the dead and living well enough to lead Persephone from the Underworld back to the world of light and her mother, Demeter. Like its relatives (belladonna, mandrake, henbane, datura, scopolia), this herb is often involved in lunar magick or works related to death and is an herb of ritual magick. In traditional witchcraft, it is employed in rain magic. This magick herb contains solanine, a cardiac poison, the same stuff in tomato leaves and in green skins of potatoes. The unripe fruits are the most poisonous part, and the ripe berries are the least so. The amount of this alkaloid can be variable, and different people react differently to it. Maoris eat the leaves of this plant like spinach, and the ripe berries are made into jam in various.

How to grow Black Nightshade. Soak seed for 2 weeks in cold water (an old vitamin bottle kept in the fridge works). Replace the water daily with fresh cold water--this is to imitate snowmelt. When removed from the fridge and planted, 70% of the seeds should germinate in 2-4 weeks (the rest will germinate subsequently, even the following year). Transplant to partial shade in spring after all danger of frost is over (it can be grown indoors). Belladonna grows best in soil that has lime ("sweet" or calcareous soil), lots of organic matter (think woodlands), and it needs a well-drained but not dried up spot. The plant will get larger in partial shade; it will have more alkaloids in sun only because it will be more dried up there. Transplant to 18"/45cm apart. This is a perennial; the younger plants have larger leaves than older plants that have gone through a winter. The flowers are followed by the berries, which can be left to rot and then planted, or you can grow new plants from the green tips. If the winters are not too severe where you are, the plant will come back from its roots in the spring. The first year the plant will get about 3ft/.9m high, but it can grow to nearly 6ft/1.8m in its second year. Alkaloid content is highest when berries are forming and lowest when the plant is flowering; higher alkaloid content is induced by growing where summers are hot and/or on a southwest slope. Once the plant is established, it can be propagated by cuttings. Roots are harvested in the fall, usually in the first through third year; this plant does not live very long for a perennial. The dry weight of the roots is about 25% of the fresh weight, but the roots are pretty big and difficult to dry without them getting moldy first. The roots are the strongest part and even the smell can give you a headache, so be careful. Slugs are really fond of this plant and will eat the bark off the stems, killing it. This plant appreciates fertilizer.