Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Phytolacca americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Common Pokeweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
P. americana is widely dispersed by birds and quickly colonizes exposed mineral soil even in undisturbed forests, such as on tree-fall tip-up mounds or flood scours. It is most abundant, however, as a weed of urban, suburban, and agricultural disturbances. The berries and mature stems are poisonous; the young stems have been used as a potherb and the purple berries as a source of ink, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phytolacca americana var. americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Phytolacca americana var. americana
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Phytolacca americana var. americana
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 068-01-001:
Phytolacca americana FAMILY Phytolaccaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phytolacca americana
COMMON NAME:
Common Pokeweed, Poke
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_149
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JK Marlow jkm150224_705
February Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm100427_001
April Greenville County SC
Leaf blades elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or ovate-lanceolate, per Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States (Godfrey & Wooten, 1979 & 1981).
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Roxanna Martin rlm51511_16
May Spartanburg County SC
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JK Marlow jkm200625_6077
June Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Bloom where you are planted...
)
JK Marlow jkm0407b_05
July Greenville County SC
Roadside
Smooth stems are strongly tinged with red-purple, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm7210_167
July Spartanburg County SC
5-30 stamens that are as long as the sepals. Superior ovary, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm7210_180
July Spartanburg County SC
Fruiting pedicels usually 7-12mm long (longer than those of P. rigida), per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_americana_2
July
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_americana_2b
July
Flowers have 5 round greenish-white or pinkish petaloid sepals [no petals], per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Steve Marlow snm9807_17a
July Greenville County SC
Said to grow to 10' tall, but that's 3 yardsticks end to end that I'm holding.
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JK Marlow jkm200808_6956
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Flowers, developing fruit, and ripe fruit - all at once!
)
Roxanna Martin rlm82308_019
August Spartanburg County SC
Fruiting raceme divergent or drooping. Berries once used as a source of ink, per Weakley's Flora (2020).
)
JK Marlow jkm061022_007
October Pickens County SC
Roadside
)
Paul Thompson pstphytolacca_americana2
Month Unknown
Raceme may be erect in flower, or divergent or drooping in flower and fruit, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Phytolacca americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phytolacca americana var. americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Phytolacca americana var. americana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Phytolacca americana var. americana
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 068-01-001:
Phytolacca americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phytolacca americana
1079
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: In a wide variety of natural and disturbed habitats, usually associated with exposed mineral soil, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in SC Coastal Plain, rare in GA Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Petioles 1-5cm long
Margins entire or sometimes crisped [wavy or crinkled]
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Greenish-white
5 sepals
Petals absent
5-30 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
Flowers in racemes
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Purplish-black
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p142
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p070
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p389
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p541
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p200
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p119
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p208
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p006
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p065
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p280
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p050
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p072
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p422
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p035
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p321
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