Pokeweed

Phytolacca americana

Pokeweed, also called pokeberry, or simply poke, blooms most of the summer, but it is in the fall that it becomes very noticeable, because of its dangling spikes of beautiful purple-black berries.  The pulp of these berries contains a red pigment which can discolor your clothes.  The plant is a perennial, but dies back to the underground portion each winter.  In the spring, green shoots poke out of the earth and quickly grow, unfurling large, oval, pointed leaves.  Spikes of tiny white or greenish, or sometimes pink or purplish flowers, can be found throughout the summer.  The flowers have no petals; the five colored parts are sepals.  The plant can attain a height of 9 feet or even higher.  The green stems turn purple over the course of the growing season.  In the fall, the purple-black berries form.

Pokeweed is in the Phytolaccaceae, or pokeweed family.  This is a small family, with only 135 species in the entire world.  There are about 11 native and introduced species in North America, but only pokeweed, a native, is common and widespread.  The genus name Phytolacca comes from the Latin.  Phyto simply means "plant."  Lacca can be translated as "crimson dye," referring to the pigment in the berries.  The common name poke is believed to come from pocan, from an Algonquin word for a dye-producing plant.

Pokeweed grows in fields, fencerows and damp woods from Quebec and Ontario south to Florida and Texas, and then west through New Mexico, Arizona and California, and north to Oregon.  Given its preference for open disturbed places like fencerows, it is not surprising that it is a weed in Europe.  In Wildwood it is very common along the Riverway.

Mature leaves and roots of pokeweed are poisonous.  Symptoms of poisoning by pokeweed include sweating, a burning sensation in the mouth and throat, severe stomach upset, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and blurred vision.  Death has occurred, but is fortunately rare.  The seeds inside the berries are also poisonous.  Because of their glossy color, the berries may prove attractive to small children, who should be watched carefully around the plant.

Pokeweed has long been used medicinally, primarily as a laxative.  In some areas extracts were drunk as spring tonics.  The juice of the fruit has been used as a treatment for hemorrhoids.  The plant contains chemicals, called mitogens, which encourage cell division, or mitosis.  This makes it a powerful immune system stimulant; however, mitogens can contribute to the development of cancer.  The plant also contains antiviral and antifungal compounds which show promise for medicinal use.
 

Despite the toxic properties of pokeweed, people have historically baked the berries, with the poisonous seeds removed of course, into pies.  They have also used the berries to color wine.  The early spring shoots have been cooked and eaten like asparagus, and the young leaves have also been cooked as a green.  It is necessary to boil the shoots or leaves in two changes of water to be sure of removing the toxins that are starting to form in the leaves.  Supposedly in some parts of the country it is possible to buy canned pokeweed. 

As one might guess from both the common and scientific names, the berries have been used to dye textiles, including wool and cotton.  A beautiful red color is produced.

Birds and some wild mammals are fond of the purple berries.  In fact, the berries are an important food source for mourning doves.  Presumably birds are unharmed by the poisons in the seeds since the seeds travel undamaged through their guts, and are in this way dispersed to new locations.   Birds in my yard seem to take special delight in eating the berries and then leaving purple-red droppings on sheets and white shirts on the clothesline.

As you pass pokeweed plants in Wildwood, or elsewhere, admire its beautiful purple stems and glossy berries, and be grateful for the part it plays in supporting our wild birds.

GGC