Omnia SanaThis tool aids identification but does not replace an expert. Never eat a wild plant or fungus on the strength of a single feature. When in doubt, throw it out.
Figwort can be confused with 1 dangerous plant/fungus. Check every distinguishing feature before you trust an identification.
One of the most poisonous plants in Europe. All parts, especially the roots and the shiny black berries, contain tropane alkaloids; poisoning causes dry flushed skin, widely dilated pupils, blurred vision, fever, urinary retention, a racing heartbeat, agitation, hallucinations, delirium, seizures and can be fatal - a few berries can kill a child. The root resembles burdock and other edible roots, and the berries are mistaken for cherries or other dark berries.
Confusable part: Tall shady-ground plant with small dark flowers gathered for herbal use; deadly nightshade grows in similar ground and has been confused with figwort.
Common figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) is a tall plant of damp woods and hedge banks used in traditional herbal medicine. As the botanical reference First Nature notes, it is sometimes confused with deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) - both are shade-loving plants with dull, dark-coloured flowers. Deadly nightshade is one of the most poisonous plants in Europe: its tropane alkaloids (atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine) cause a dry flushed skin, dilated pupils, hallucinations, seizures and can be fatal. Because the two can be mistaken, especially by the dark flowers, careful identification matters.
How to tell them apart
- Stem (decisive): common figwort has a distinctly SQUARE stem in cross-section. Deadly nightshade has a round stem.
- Flower size: figwort's flowers are tiny (only about 8 mm across), roughly a third the size of deadly nightshade's larger purplish-brown bell flowers.
- Fruit: figwort forms small dry seed capsules, whereas deadly nightshade bears shiny black cherry-sized berries in a green star-shaped calyx - any such berries mean deadly nightshade.
Feel the stem and look at the flowers/fruit. A square stem with tiny (~8 mm) dark flowers and dry seed capsules = figwort. A round stem, larger brown-purple bell flowers and shiny black berries = deadly nightshade - potentially fatal, do not gather it. If you see black berries, do not use the plant.
Educational identification aid compiled from the Omnia Sana plant database and cited botanical and toxicological sources. Not medical advice and not a substitute for expert identification.