Wikijunior:Summer Flowers of Northern New England/Phytolacca americana

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)
Pokeweed flowers	Pokeweed berries
Description: Pokeweed is a fast-growing plant that produces a cluster of dark-purple berries. The flowers are white with green in the center. The young leaves and shoots of this plant are edible and commonly eaten, but if they are picked when they are too old, they are dangerously poisonous. The seeds are always poisonous, so the berries should never be eaten. The stems are green or red, or sometimes green fading to red. It grows to over ten feet tall in dense clumps. Quick Facts: Though the berries are highly poisonous to humans, songbirds such as Northern Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, and Northern Mockingbird love them.	Pokeweed berries and leaves

Pokeweed flowers

Pokeweed berries

Description:
Pokeweed is a fast-growing plant that produces a cluster of dark-purple berries. The flowers are white with green in the center. The young leaves and shoots of this plant are edible and commonly eaten, but if they are picked when they are too old, they are dangerously poisonous. The seeds are always poisonous, so the berries should never be eaten.

The stems are green or red, or sometimes green fading to red. It grows to over ten feet tall in dense clumps.

Quick Facts:
Though the berries are highly poisonous to humans, songbirds such as Northern Cardinal, Brown Thrasher, and Northern Mockingbird love them.

Pokeweed berries and leaves

Last modified on 7 July 2010, at 18:36

Wikijunior:Summer Flowers of Northern New England/Phytolacca americana

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