POKEWEED ( Scokc. Garget. Indian Poke) 

 Phytolacca americana L. 



June - September 

 Waste places, woods 



'l"hiii-tiii,ii throufrli the moist earth of the April 

 woods coincs the Iiuli;m pokeweed. The shoots 

 ari' ])ale f^reon and siuciilcnt. in chiiiips. in 

 iinnip.'*, somotinies l)y dozens where there used to he an oM woods eahin 

 01- a eh'ariiii:- now iriven hack to the woods. The Indian i»oke comes when 

 tlie molds are ,i:i'owin,i;\ when the \iolet- are in hh)om and inayapples 

 oix'u their white lh>wers. It is at this time in it.s >jrowth that the ]»ale, 

 jni( V stems and crinkled, tender leaves of ])oke are pithered and cooked 

 as "greens. Tliose who uather Indian poke, howevei-, nmst carefnlly cut 

 off the .shoots al)o\c the uroiind. not pull them up. hecause the hi^' ruddy 

 root is poi.sonous and must never be included in the dish of <j:reens. 



The pokeueed contimu^s to sxrow. If the shoots are gathered, new 

 ones within a few days will make their ap|H'arance. The stalks hraiuh. 

 the stems jsrrow stout and lall. until each plant makes a hroadly spreadinjr 

 hu.sh with thin, ^n-eeii. tapered leaves upon it. Then in .June tliere a])i)ear 

 racemes of small, ureenish-white llowers which are followed rpiickly by 

 racenu's of small. Hat iircen buttons of beriMcs. .slowly, throuiih the sum- 

 mer, these ^row to be as lar,L:-e as })eas and by ()ci;il)er have turned dark 

 piirj)lc-hlack and are lilled with purjjle juice. Now the .stalks of the 

 Indian poke ha\e turned a bright mairenta, as if they had been dipped 

 in dye, and to the poki'weed jiatches come tlu> robins, bhukbirds. and 

 bluebirds to eat the juicy heiries. The robins have .stained bo.soms 

 and beaks, and sit about waitin<i- for the berries to di<rest that more may 

 be eaten. Then comes hard frost. The last of the berries are prone, the 

 thin leaves, always so frost-sensitiv(>. wilt away, but icmain for a largt' 

 part of the wintei-. pale and dry and thin as paper, on the bleai'hed, dried 

 bushes of the j)oke. Tbe.se skeletons stand all winter and fall down when 

 new shoots push tliem ;:ut of the way. 



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