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Pokeweed

Phytolacca americana L.

Phytolaccaceae (Pokeweed Family)

seedlings ▲▼

young shoot emerging from rootstock in spring/summer

young plant

plant with flower buds

purple stems on plant-- also flowers, immature fruit visible

mature plants▲▼

flowers and fruit ▲▼

Pokeweed

·         herbaceous, simple perennial weed with very large tap root with age

·         has oval shaped green leaves with hook on tip, purplish stems 3-8' tall

·         produces drooping racemes of white flowers followed by black/purple berries

·         young leaves edible for humans; mature leaves, stem, roots, fruit poisonous

·         reproduces rapidly by seed spread by birds which can eat fruit

·         found in cultivated fields, pastures, waste areas, wild areas; is somewhat glyphosate-tolerant

 

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