Pokeweed is strangely beautiful. I always thought I was the only person to feel that way, until I read the Wikipedia article on the subject, which says, “Some pokeweeds are grown as ornamental plants, mainly for their attractive berries.” The dark and glossy berries do indeed attract the eye, but what got my attention during Monday’s walk, when I took the pictures below, was the transition of colors as the berries develop. The flower cluster is initially white but eventually turns purplish-red. The flowers turn first into green berries, then into purple ones, eventually becoming so dark as to be almost black. The transformation is really quite stunning, once you notice it.
The entire plant is poisonous, so much so that Wikipedia recommends never touching any part of it with your bare hands. When I was a child, my parents warned me that it was poisonous, so I never ate the berries. I seem to recall mashing the berries in a bucket, though, so I must have touched them when I picked them from the plant. Oh, well. What did not kill me must have made me stronger.
Having long been aware of pokeweed’s poisonous nature, I was shocked to learn that people in parts of the South eat it, though only at a certain time of year, and only a certain part of the plant, and only after many rounds of preparation to remove the toxins. I found a good article about the practice. This post also mentions it. I’m not going to try it because, as everyone who writes about it mentions, people can get sick, even die, from eating this stuff. IMHO, it is a starvation-level food: good to know about in the event of an apocalypse, and otherwise just another pretty weed to look at as you’re walking. But I’m happy to know that the berries provide food for many of our local animals, including cardinals, mourning doves, raccoons, squirrels, and foxes.
