American Pokeweed Phytolacca americana – Native Plant of the Week

Introduction

American Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, was a new plant for me in that I only recently ‘discovered’ it in my recent travels to the eastern USA. It grows prolifically like a weed, hence the name “Pokeweed”. It has tiny little flowers but gorgeous clusters of green berries on purple-red stems that later turn dark purple. I think what I love most about it is the contrast of the green or purple berries on those bright fuchsia-red stems. I also respect the large size of this native herbaceous perennial and its hardiness. It often grows on the edge of roads, poking out between the edge of the bushes and the sidewalks. It gets trimmed back, trampled on, and yet it still returns.

Toxicity of American Pokeweed

Phytolacca americana is poisonous to humans and most other mammals. The roots are the most toxic, followed by the mature leaves, stems, and ripe fruit. Symptoms of poisoning include severe gastritis, vomiting, sweating, bloody diarrhea, blurred vision, and loss of consciousness. People seldom die, but young children, who may eat the berries, are the most susceptible. Since the toxins can be absorbed through the skin it is recommended to limit direct contact with your skin. Birds and other small animals, however, are immune to its toxic effects.

Its toxicity is the reason this beautiful native plant is often viewed as a pest plant because it sometimes harms people, pets, or livestock. I think it is sad when native species are treated as ‘pests’ because they were here before we ever were, so who is the pest, really? Maybe we just need to be better educated about the dangers of poisonous plants. I think I may also just have a soft spot in my heart for any native plant viewed as a pest. In either case, I think it is a beautiful plant. I wanted to learn more about it and share it with others so maybe they too can better understand this misunderstood native plant. If you like misunderstood native plants as I do, be sure to check out my blog on whether cattails are really an invasive native species or do human perceptions need to change?

Description of American Pokeweed

Stem & Leaves

American Pokeweed or Phytolacca americana is a member of the Phytolaccaceae family, part of the Caryophyllales Order. It is a very tall herbaceous perennial, growing anywhere from less than 1 m to just over 3 m tall with angular-ridged greenish to fuchsia-red stems. The stems are often, though not always branched.

The large leaves grow to 35 cm long and 18 cm wide on 1-6 cm long leaf stalks (petioles). Leaf blades are ovate to lance-shaped and are entire (not toothed). The leaf tips (apex) are thin and pointed (acuminate) and its base is rounded or heart-shaped (cordate). Leaves are arranged alternately on the reddish stems.

Flowers & Fruits

The flowers grow in elongated racemes (clusters). Each small, perfect, radially symmetric flower has 4-5 white, greenish-white, pinkish, or purplish sepals each 2.5-3.5 mm long. The flowers have no petals, though the sepals do appear petal-like. There are 9-12 stamens in a single whorl. Usually, however, the flowers have 10 stamens. Flowers have 6-12 carpels (a carpel is the female reproductive organs = ovary + style + stigma) that are partially joined (connate) toward their base. The ovary is 6-12 loculed (chambered).

American Pokeweed produces somewhat unique 6-11 mm diameter berries that have 10 (9-12) cells. The berries start out green and later turn dark purple to almost black, with bright crimson-colored juice. The 3 mm lens-shaped shiny black seeds are embedded in the juicy berries and are mostly spread by birds that are able to eat the berries without toxic side effects.

Similar Species Frequently Confused With

There are no other species it can be confused within North America. The unique stems and berry clusters make it difficult to confuse with anything else. However, there are two varieties of Phytolacca americana. Sometimes the varieties’ properties can overlap and vary making them hard to distinguish. However, in general, the two can be distinguished as follows:

• Phytolacca americana var americana – fruit stalks (pedicels) are usually longer than 6 mm when in fruit, and are longer than the berries. The racemes are usually drooping and are typically quite long, from 12-30 cm long (raceme only, not including the stalk). This variety is much more common and widespread throughout the species’ entire range.
• Phytolacca americana var rigida – pedicels are shorter than the berries and less than 6 mm long when in fruit. The racemes are erect and typically much shorter, usually only 6-9 cm long. This variety is also only found in eastern coastal USA from North Carolina and Virginia south along the coast as far west as Texas.

Habitat & Growing Conditions of Phytolacca americana

In North America, it tends to be found in disturbed areas including pastures, edge habitats, roadsides, fence rows, forest openings, recently cleared areas and waste areas. It is an opportunistic species that seems able to thrive on human disturbance.

It grows in full sun to part shade. Due to its more opportunistic nature it can be found growing in a variety of soil and moisture conditions.

Growing American Pokeweed in Your Garden

Growing native species in your yard is easy, once established they require little or no maintenance. They also provide important wildlife and biodiversity values as well. These factors all make them the perfect plant for your garden.

American Pokeweed is easy to grow from seed, you can either purchase seeds or gather some from the wild. Seeds can be obtained in the Amazon Affiliates links at the bottom of the page. Plants generally cannot be transplanted as they have a long taproot. But the seeds are fairly easy to germinate and remain viable for decades. Simply spread them on a thin layer of compost and lightly cover them with soil. Keep them moist until they germinate then thin them. Once mature each plant will need approximately 1 m of space.

Pokeweed grows quite tall but can be pruned shorter if necessary. Ideally choose a location behind your flower beds and plant it in almost any soil type and condition. It is highly opportunistic that way and will tolerate almost anything. Once past the seedling stage you can simply leave it alone, it requires no fertilizer and no water once established. Just let it grow and harvest it yourself if that is your reason for growing it, or leave it be and let the wildlife feast on the berries when they come ripe.

Winter Maintenance

Even though it is a herbaceous perennial and will die back for the winter, do not cut the dead growth back until spring. If there are remaining berries on the bush the birds, rodents, deer, etc will keep returning to nibble on them all winter long. Then in the spring before it gets new shoots, cut the dead stems back to ground level.

Wildlife Values of American Pokeweed

American pokeweed feeds numerous native wildlife species from birds like robins, hummingbirds, and bluebirds to squirrels, foxes, opossums and raccoons. Most animals eat the juicy berries when ripe but white-tailed deer also feed on the leaves and stems, especially in the spring. It is also a host to the lovely leopard moths and it’s an important plant for migratory birds in eastern North America.

Distribution of American Pokeweed Phytolacca americana

In Canada, Phytolacca americana is found only in the eastern provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick.

In the USA American Pokeweed is found throughout all the eastern states from Minnesota south to Louisiana and all states east of there. It is also found in the southern states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona with scattered populations in the pacific coast states of California, Oregon and Washington. It is most widespread in the eastern USA.

In Mexico, it has been found in Baja California (norte), Nuevo Leon, Veracruz, and along the eastern edge of Oaxaca. It is likely native there due to populations on the southern border of the USA. Though its populations and status there do not appear to have been studied.

American Pokeweed was formerly a North American endemic species. Globally it has now been introduced to numerous countries in Europe as well as in Japan.

Status of Phytolacca americana

American Pokeweed is considered Globally Secure (G5). Given its weedy opportunistic tendencies, this is not surprising as it is a tough plant tolerant of various growing conditions including human disturbance.

In Canada, Phytolacca americana is considered Apparently Secure (S4). It is unranked in Quebec and New Brunswick.

However in the USA, it is only considered Secure locally (S5) in Iowa, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware. It is Apparently Secure (S4) in Illinois. As is the case with most of our native plants it is as yet unranked in most of the states that it is currently found in. The unranked states it is found in include: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington.

Traditional or Other Uses of American Pokeweed

American Pokeweed Use as a Vegetable

Poke salad was a common food eaten regularly as recently as the mid 1900’s. The young leaves were picked, washed, then cooked. The water was poured out, new water added, then cooked again, and rinsed out again. This process deactivated the toxins and rinsed them out of the young leaves. Only the young leaves were eaten this way as they became more toxic with maturity. Young shoots were also picked and eaten similar to asparagus. The berries were frequently used to color wine and eaten cooked in pies, usually mixed with other berries.

The Cherokee Nation of the USA has a long traditional history of the use of American Pokeweed. They too would cook and eat the greens. The later settlers no doubt learned this practice from them. The Cherokee people used to pick the young leaves and dry them for later use. They would also peel, cook and eat the young stems like asparagus. Sometimes they would even dip the stems in egg, and then cornmeal, and fry them as you would fish. They also used the berries in wines for flavor and color. The Iroquois and Malecite also occasionally used Phytolacca americana as a food source.

Phytolacca americana Medicinal Uses

Medicinally American Pokeweed was used by native North Americans for a number of ailments. Usually, the root was used medicinally, mostly externally but also internally, no doubt under strictly controlled supervision as the root is the most poisonous. The Iroquois used it for various skin conditions, rashes, bruises, etc. They also used it for rheumatism and problems with the liver or blood. The Delaware, Mahuna, and Micmac used it for similar purposes in similar ways. The Mohegan used the mashed berries as a poultice for sore breasts for nursing mothers. It was also used as a poison by the Iroquois Mohegan and Mahuna peoples. The Iroquois even used it as a love medicine where they would ‘tie in a poplar tree, then place among roots’.

More recently Phytolacca americana has been widely used by herbalists for various skin ailments, particularly hemorrhoids. It is also being studied for its known potent antiviral and antifungal properties. It is even being examined for use against HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).

Ethical Wildcrafting of Phytolacca americana

If you want to wildcraft Phytolacca americana please find a nice large and healthy population to harvest from. If you find just a few plants or a single plant please leave them alone to reproduce. Even though it is a weedy species whose status is currently secure, it is a plant with a ‘bad rap’ that is often eradicated locally due to its being so misunderstood and feared. So when wildcrafting, as always, please follow the 1 in 20 rule as described in the Ethical Wildcrafting post. Also, because it tends to grow well under human disturbance, be sure the area you are wildcrafting from is free of major sources of pollution.

Wildcrafting and Processing

If you are harvesting wear gloves to minimize contact exposure. When harvesting leaves pick 1 in every 20 leaves you see and place them in a bag or basket. Then bring them home and either dry them flat on a screen or rack for later use or cook them right away if making poke salad. Please be very careful if you are ingesting them in any way, be aware of the poisonous properties, and treat the plant with the respect it deserves. If storing the greens be sure to label the bag or jar with TOXIC IF INGESTED to prevent others from accidentally ingesting enough to poison themselves.

If you are harvesting the roots then dig the root with a digging stick as described in the Ethical Wildcrafting post. Bring the root home and remove any dirt, then slice it into smaller manageable pieces before drying for later use. Once dried it can be made into a tincture or a salve. If you are not a trained herbalist please limit your use of the root to external applications only. Be sure to label TOXIC IF INGESTED on your harvesting bag, rack, and tincture bottles to prevent others from accidentally ingesting the poison.

Berries can be harvested when ripe, pick the entire cluster (only picking 1 in 20 clusters that you see), then bring them home and either use them right away or dry them on a screen or rack for later use. Again, be sure to label the storage jar with TOXIC IF INGESTED to prevent others from accidentally ingesting toxic amounts of the berries.

References and Resources

Canadensys Plant Search https://data.canadensys.net/vascan/search

Dictionary of Botanical Terms – by Lyrae’s Nature Blog https://lyraenatureblog.com/blog/dictionary-of-botanical-terms/

Eflora Plants of North America http://www.efloras.org/browse.aspx?flora_id=1

iNaturalist Plant Search https://www.inaturalist.org/home

Native American Ethnobotany http://naeb.brit.org/

Natureserve Explorer https://explorer.natureserve.org/Search

USDA Plants Database https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/home

Willis, Lyrae (2022).  Plant Families of North America.  Not yet published. 

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