Pokeweed

 Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is an impressive weed.  It is tall, brightly colored and poisonous.

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) leaves and fruit in late summer
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Pokeweed emerging in spring.
Young leaves may be eaten after boiling.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Pokeweed is native to eastern North America and can reach heights of over six feet.  It grows from a large taproot that puts out leaves in the spring.  The robust stems of Pokeberry are bright reddish purple, contrasting with the green of the large leaves.  By early summer Poke makes small white flowers that become fruits that start green and turn purple.  Another common name for Pokeweed is Inkberry.   Pokeweed berries can be crushed and used as a natural ink, paint or a fabric dye. 

Pokeweed in summer showing its reddish purple stems.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Pokeweed contains a large number of toxic molecules. People ingesting Pokeweed may experience vomiting, cramps, bloody diarrhea and in some cases death.   Despite its toxicity some people eat Pokeweed.  Only the young leaves are selected and they must be boiled to remove the poisons.  The boiled leaves are eaten as poke (polk) salad.  

Pokeweed in flower.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Poke salad was a traditional part of the diet of poor people in the south. This dangerous delicacy was immortalized in the song “Polk Salad Annie”.  This song from the 1960s, was written by Tony Joe White and covered by none other than The King, Elvis Presley.  A great line from the song goes “Polk Salad Annie, gator got your granny. Everybody said it was a shame, because her momma was working on a chain gang.”   This song gives a glimpse of the culture that prized poke salad. 

Pokeweed with green fruit.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

While Pokeweed is poisonous to mammals, birds are not affected.  The ripe, purple berries of Pokeweed are relished by Gray Catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis), Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos), American Robins (Turdus migratorius) and other fruit eating birds.  The fruit is digested by the birds and the seeds are released in purple bird droppings.  Many a car has been decorated with purple splashes by avian pokeberry eaters.  

Mature fruits of Pokeberry are deep purple.
Rowan County, North Carolina.

By winter, all the berries have been eaten and the leaves have dropped off.  The stems fade from the bright color of summer to a skeletal white.  But, Pokeweed is waiting underground for another season of exuberant growth and berry making.  

Pokeweed stems in late winter.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Farmers don’t like Pokeweed.  Cattle and horses are sometimes poisoned by eating the plant.  But I enjoy seeing Pokeweed in the summer along roadsides and the edges of fields.