Pokeweed: Pokeweed is a native plant in much of North America. It is a "pioneer" plant, a plant that colonizes disturbed areas and starts the process of ecological succession. A...

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Pokeweed is a native plant in much of North America. It is a "pioneer" plant, a plant that colonizes disturbed areas and starts the process of ecological succession. A botanist I was talking to this summer called these plants "nature's band-aids." The shiny dark purple berries are a food source for songbirds, especially Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, and Northern Mockingbird. It is a host plant for seven native butterfly and moth species, including the Giant Leopard Moth.

This particular plant showed up in our yard a couple of years ago and now is 5 feet tall and about 8 feet in circumference.

"American Pokeweed" - Phytolacca americana

Mike

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Curve_in Loc: Virginia

Nice lighting! Growing up, my Mom would pick the young leaves and cook them.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Curve_in wrote:

Nice lighting! Growing up, my Mom would pick the young leaves and cook them.

Thanks, Kervin. Yes, there is a tradition, especially in the South, of cooking the leaves. They have to be young leaves though, as the leaves become somewhat toxic as they age. A person at the local conservation district office told me that there is some sort of paranoia up here about the plant's toxicity and people are trying to eradicate it, worried that their kids or pets will eat it and get poisoned. Of course, most plants are toxic to most animals in some dosage, so the fear is silly. Important and valuable native plant, too often viewed as a "weed."

Mike

Dixiegirl Loc: Alabama gulf coast

And I can add to your excellent information, Mike. The leaves used to be and maybe still are gathered, cooked and eaten. It's called poke salad. My grandmother used to harvest the leaves when she was raising her family on their farm. I'm so glad she never served me any. :-D Very pretty shot of the plant and blooms.

Blenheim Orange wrote:

Pokeweed is a native plant in much of North Americ... (show quote)

Chuckwal Loc: Boynton Beach Florida

Nicely done :thumbup:
Chuck

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

beautiful shot. They grow all over around my neck of the country. And they will grow right up til frost. Here, that is usually way into Oct. I don't remember my mother ever picking any. Probably because she didn't like the taste.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

amyinsparta wrote:

beautiful shot. They grow all over around my neck of the country. And they will grow right up til frost. Here, that is usually way into Oct. I don't remember my mother ever picking any. Probably because she didn't like the taste.

Thanks.

It is still going strong here today and we are just about into October.

Mike

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Chuckwal wrote:

Nicely done :thumbup:
Chuck

Thanks for the comment, Chuck!

Mike

STVest Loc: LA - that's Lower Alabama

Blenheim Orange wrote:

Pokeweed is a native plant in much of North Americ... (show quote)

Another great photo and accompanying info, Mike. Always wondered what poke salad was -- never had any but have always heard of it.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

STVest wrote:

Another great photo and accompanying info, Mike. Always wondered what poke salad was -- never had any but have always heard of it.

Thanks.

My great aunt from the Kentucky side of the family used to talk about poke salad.

Mike

STVest Loc: LA - that's Lower Alabama

Blenheim Orange wrote:

Thanks.

My great aunt from the Kentucky side of the family used to talk about poke salad.

Mike

And I am Kentucky born and bred.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

STVest wrote:

And I am Kentucky born and bred.

As they used to say in Detroit "I was bred in old Kentucky, but I'm just a crumb up here." A whole generation of my family left the farm and came up in the 30's, 40's and 50's to work in the auto plants - grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles. It used to seem to me that half the people in the plants were from down South.

Mike

STVest Loc: LA - that's Lower Alabama

Blenheim Orange wrote:

As they used to say in Detroit "I was bred in old Kentucky, but I'm just a crumb up here." A whole generation of my family left the farm and came up in the 30's, 40's and 50's to work in the auto plants - grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles. It used to seem to me that half the people in the plants were from down South.

Mike

And thank you so very much for properly calling Kentucky the "south". I have not yet been able to convince my Alabama born husband of that!