FORTUNATELY, deadly nightshade is a rare plant because no flower has had a more evil reputation than the witches' plant, which is also known as "daft berries" and belladonna.

Its scientific name is Atropa Belladonna and it is so poisonous that it has also been called "doleful bells" and "Satan's cherries." It grows well in some limestone areas and there are records of children eating just three of the black berries and failing to recover.

The plant does have some important uses because droplets of the liquid distilled from the berries dilates the pupils of the eye.

This has been important in eye surgery but also had a use in cosmetics because medieval ladies (or more probably their suitors) found large dark eyes to be attractive.

Hence the name belladonna -- the beautiful lady herb.

When taken internally the plant is deadly but when rubbed into the skin as an ointment it creates a sensation of floating in the air.

This so-called flying ointment was used by women who thought they were witches. They probably did not need a broomstick -- all they needed was a good dose of flying ointment. The deadly nightshade flowers from June to September and initially its purple flowers give way to green berries which, from September onwards, ripen to a deep shiny black.

The poisons within the plant have been identified as the alkaloids atropine and hyoscyamine. While studying the plant I watched a rabbit eating the leaves.

We cannot do this but many mammals have their own way of digesting poisons and may be able to break them down to products which are safe.

I proved this by not finding dead rabbits but perhaps I should go back at night and see if these rabbits can fly!