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Phytolacca americana. Linn. (P. decandra, Linn.). Poke. Scoke. Garget. Tall stout bushy perennial herb, reaching 10- 12 ft. high, the sts. soft or semi-succulent and smooth, glaucous, and the maturer parts purple tinged: lvs. oval-oblong or oblong lanceolate, gradually narrowed both ways, acuminate, the petiole more or less margined: fls. purplish or greenish white, in peduncled simple racemes and borne on stout bracted pedicels; ovary 10 carpelled and green, ripening into a wine purple berry. Maine through Ont. to Minn., and far southward; naturalized in Eu.; often a weed, particularly in clearings and new lands. B.M. 931. Gn. 21. p. 179. G. 7:667. Mn. 1, p. 53. A robust plant with heavy odor, but of good habit and clean. This species, the common pokeberry, is offered by dealers in native plants and its young asparagus like shoots are sometimes used as a pot herb. Its flattish berries yield a crimson juice of a very distinct hue, but it has never been fixed for dyeing purposes. Children sometimes make red ink from the berries for amusement. The berries have been used to give color to pale wines, but its use for this purpose is injurious and in Portugal has been prohibited by royal decree. The roots are emetic, purgative, and somewhat narcotic. The word "poke" is supposed to come from the American Indian word pocan, which apparently referred to any plant yielding a red or yellow dye, as pokeweed or bloodroot. In President Polk's campaign his followers wore lvs. of pokeweed. In collecting young shoots for greens, care must be taken not to include any portion of the root, as this would give a bitter taste and might cause serious illness, as the roots contain powerful drastic principles. Small pieces of the root eaten by mistake for horse radish or turnip are reported to have caused serious and in some instances fatal cases of poisoning. The seeds are also poisonous. Directions are given in some of the older writings for the cult, of poke for the young shoots, which are eaten early in the season as a substitute for asparagus; but the wealth of other pot herbs renders this plant unnecessary. It may be increased by seeds or by division of the thick roots. A variegated form once cult, for ornament is shown in R.H. 1887, p. 16, the lvs. light green above often shaded rose and more or less margined white, beneath pale rose to violet.
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