Pokeberry (Phytolacca americana)
NATIVE RANGE:
North America, The East Coast from Mexico to Canada with populations in the Midwest and West.
DESCRIPTION:
Bushy plant growing up to 8 feet tall, with simple alternate leaves and characteristic dark purple berries.
LOVE / HATE RELATIONSHIPS:
Humans tend to hate pokeweed, farmers consider it a pest, as do many urban and suburban residents who can’t rid their properties of its presence. Plants are persistent, and this one will keep coming back year after year despite most efforts to remove it. Birds, however, love pokeberries. It is a major food source for several songbirds including mockingbirds and cardinals. Foxes, racoons, opposums and other small animals feed on its abundant fruit too.
TOXICITY:
The saying that you should never eat wild berries if you don’t recognize them definitely applies to pokeweed. Ingesting these berries can be fatal for small children, in older kids and adults you would probably just get a bad case of food poisoning. The young leaves and stems can be eaten if they are cooked properly. (Lengthy boiling three times in fresh water each time) As the plant matures its toxicity increases. Even birds that love the berry and are generally immune to its toxic chemicals can become slightly intoxicated if they eat too many berries late in the season.
