BITTERSWEET 



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row plant. Almost every road and lane is lined with its dark-blue and 

 yellow lurid blooms in summer, climbing over the hedge. It is also 

 found commonly along the sides of streams and water generally, where 

 hedges flank them, for it is more or less a climbing plant. 



This is a rambling, climbing plant, with a wavy stem, woody, and 

 much branched, usually smooth, with egg-shaped, heart-shaped leaves. 



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BITTERSWEET (Solatium Dulcamara, L.) 



the upper ones lance-shaped and spear-shaped, or clasping the stem. 

 The stem is hollow and nearly round. 



The flowers are borne in drooping cymes, which are opposite the 

 leaves. The corolla is purple, with two rounded green spots below 

 each petal, the mouth black. The flower-stalks are swollen at the base. 

 The calyx is purple, and does not fall. The corolla is wheel-shaped, 

 with 5 lance-shaped segments, and turned back. The berries, at first 

 green, are red when ripe, egg-shaped, and poisonous. 



The plant may reach a length or height of 20 ft., but is usually 

 3-6 ft. It flowers in June and July. It is a herbaceous perennial, 

 reproduced by cuttings, and is worth cultivating. 



There is no honey in the flower, and it is therefore but little visited 

 by insects. Rhingia rostrata examines the two round, shining, green 



