Pokeweed

About

A big native perennial with purple stems and dark berries that birds plant along fences and garden edges. All parts are poisonous, especially the root, and the grape-like berries tempt children.

Also called American pokeweed, common pokeweed, poke, pokeberry, pigeon berry

How to identify it

Look for

Thick, smooth stems turn bright purple-red and grow 4 to 10 feet tall. Large, simple, smooth leaves reach about a foot long and smell unpleasant when crushed. Long, drooping clusters of small white flowers turn into glossy purple-black berries, and a huge white taproot sits below.

Look-alikes

Grapes grow on woody vines, while pokeberries hang on soft red stalks. Elderberry is a woody shrub with compound leaves and berries in broad, flat-topped clusters; pokeweed is non-woody, with big single leaves and berries in drooping strings.

Where it grows

Fence rows, woodland openings, pastures, field and garden edges, and anywhere birds drop seed.

When

Shoots come up in spring, flowers open from summer into early fall, and berries ripen from late summer into fall.

How it spreads

Birds eat the berries and spread the seeds; plants come back each year from the large taproot.

Most common in

What to do, gentlest first

Protect yourself first. Weed killers are a last step; always read and follow the label.

1. Gloves and watch the fence lines Prevent

   Wear gloves to handle it. Look for new seedlings each spring under fences, trees and anywhere birds perch.

   Teach children not to eat wild berries.

2. Dig young plants before they flower By hand

   Dig out seedlings and young plants, taproot and all, before flowers and berries form.

   Wear gloves. Bag berry clusters for the trash so birds don't spread them.

Uses, wildlife and pets

For wildlife

Robins, cedar waxwings, warblers and mammals such as raccoons, opossums and foxes eat the berries, and stem-nesting bees use the dead stalks.

Pets

Toxic to dogs, cats and horses (ASPCA); NC State Extension rates the whole plant poisonous.