Pokeweed is not exactly a garden lover’s favorite plant, but the birds will send you a nice thank-you chirp if you find some corner where it can grow.
In fact, most gardeners consider pokeweed an unwanted weed but it can be quite beautiful and charming, according to Helen Hamilton, president of the John Clayton Chapter, Virginia Native Plant Society. Growing more than 3 feet tall and branching almost as wide, the reddish stems carry loose columns of small white or pinkish flowers July-September. In late summer, drooping clusters bear glossy purple-black berries.
Preferring moist soil, pokeweed, or Phytolacca americana, is found in damp thickets, clearing, and roadsides in most U.S. states.
Beware, if you have curious children or pets because all parts of this plant are poisonous, specially the roots, seeds and mature stems and leaves. However, the young tender leaves can be eaten but only as thoroughly cooked greens, with two changes of water. American Indians found many medicinal uses for the plant and many folk remedies make use of parts of the plant, according to Hamilton. The berry juice was used as a dye by the early colonists and to improve cheap wine.
Songbirds, fox, raccoon and opossum consume the berries, apparently immune to the toxic chemicals. These animals help distribute the seeds far and wide. Pokeweed is deer resistant, because the foliage and stems are somewhat toxic and bitter, particularly when mature.
The plant contains a highly toxic chemical that is being investigated for anticancer and anti-HIV potential, according to Hamilton.Copyright © 2015, Daily Press