Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Caryophyllales > Phytolaccaceae > Phytolacca > Phytolacca americana

Phytolacca americana (common pokeweed; pokeberry; pokeweed; pigeonberry; inkberry; poke; American pokeweed)

Synonyms: Phytolacca americana var. lancifolia; Phytolacca decandra (heterotypic); Phytolacca vulgaris
Language: French

Wikipedia Abstract

American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), or simply pokeweed, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the pokeweed family Phytolaccaceae growing up to 8 feet (2 meters) in height. It is native to the eastern United States and has significant toxicity.
View Wikipedia Record: Phytolacca americana

Infraspecies

Phytolacca americana var. americana (American pokeweed)
Phytolacca americana var. huadongensis
Phytolacca americana var. rigida (American pokeweed)

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Mid Summer
Drought Tolerance [1]  Medium
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [1]  High
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Frost Free Days [1]  3 months 10 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  High
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Single Stem
Growth Period [1]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [1]  Rapid
Hazards [2]  The leaves are poisonous; They are said to be safe to eat when young, the toxins developing as the plants grow older. Another report says that the seeds and root are poisonous. The plant sap can cause dermatitis in sensitive people; The plant contains substances that cause cell division and can damage chromosomes. These substances can be absorbed through any abrasions in the skin, potentially causing serious blood aberratins, and so it is strongly recommended that the people wear gloves when handling the plant;
Leaf Type [3]  Deciduous
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Propagation [1]  Seed
Regrowth Rate [1]  Slow
Root Depth [1]  16 inches (41 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Rapid
Seed Vigor [1]  Medium
Seeds Per [1]  58000 / lb (127868 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Erect
Structure [3]  Herb
Usage [2]  A red ink and a dye are obtained from the fruit; A beautiful colour, though it is not very permanent; It makes a good body paint, washing off easily when no longer required, though the slightly toxic nature of the berries should be remembered; The rootstock is rich in saponins and can be used as a soap substitute; Cut the root into small pieces and simmer it in boiling water to obtain the soap. The plant is currently (1980) being evaluated for its snail-killing properties;
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  None
Flower Color [1]  White
Foliage Color [1]  Green
Fruit Color [1]  Black
Fall Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Flower Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Fruit Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Height [2]  6.56 feet (2 m)
Width [2]  4.92 feet (1.5 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 3 Low Temperature: -40 F° (-40 C°) → -30 F° (-34.4 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Mostly Shady
Soil Acidity [1]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [1]  Intermediate
Water Use [1]  Moderate
Screening - Summer [1]  Moderate
Screening - Winter [1]  Porous
View Plants For A Future Record : Phytolacca americana

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

Predators

Consumers

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
♦ 4Study of Northern Virginia Ecology
♦ 5HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 6Characteristics of Some Fruiting Plant Species in Northwest Arkansas, and the Avian Assemblages that Feed on Them, John W. Prather, Kimberly G. Smith, Michael A. Mlodinow, Cecilia M. Riley, Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science,Vol. 54, 2000, pp. 103-108
♦ 7Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0