Phytolacca. 



PHYTOLACCACEiE. 



157 



Order LXXXVI. PHYTOLACCACEtE. R. Br. The Pokeweed Tribe. 



Flowers perfect. Calyx of 4 — 5 sepals. Corolla none. Stamens as many or 

 twice as many as the divisions of the calyx, sometimes indefinite, hypogynous. 

 Ovary compound, consisting of several more or less united (or sometimes free) 

 indehiscent carpels, each with a single ovule ; rarely consisting of a single 

 carpel. Fruit baccate, utriculate, an achenium, or samaroid. Seed erect. 

 Embryo annular, surrounding copious farinaceous albumen ; or straight, with 

 scanty albumen. — Herbs or shrubs, with mostly alternate entire leaves, and 

 the flowers in spikes or racemes. 



1. PHYTOLACCA. Tourn. ; Endl. gen. 5262. pokeweed. 



[From the Greek, phyton, a plant, and lachanon, a potherb ; in allusion to the use made of the young shoots.] 



Calyx petaloid, 5-sepalled. Stamens 7 - 30. Styles short, as numerous as the carpels, 

 recurved. Fruit berry-like, globose-depressed, consisting of 5-12 closely united carpels. 

 Embryo circular, surrounding copious farinaceous albumen. — Herbs, with fusiform or 

 turnip-shaped roots. Flowers in axillary racemes. 



1. Phytolacca decandra, Linn. (Plate XCIV.) Common Pokeiveed. 



Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute at each end ; flowers with 10 stamens and 10 styles ; fruit 

 juicy. — Linn. sp. (ed. 2.) 1. p. 631 ; Michx.fl. I. p. 278 ; Pursh, ft. 1. p. 324 ; Bigel. 

 med. bot. t. 3, andjl. Bost. p. 185 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 530 ; Bart. veg. mat. med. 1. t. 48 ; Torr. 

 ft. I. p. 464 ; Beck, bot. p. 299 ; Darlingt. ft. Cest. p. 283. 



Root perennial, large, fusiform and branching. Stem 4-6 feet high, stout, branching, 

 very smooth ; the pith divided into numerous disks, which are thickish at their edges and very 

 thin in the centre, leaving lenticular spaces between them. Leaves 4-8 inches long and 

 2-3 broad, very smooth. Racemes axillary or opposite the leaves, 2-8 inches long (in- 

 cluding the peduncle). Flowers on short spreading pedicels, each with a subulate bract at 

 the base. Calyx white, and resembling a corolla ; the segments ovate, obtuse. Stamens 

 nearly as long as the calyx : anthers white. Ovary large and green, obtusely 10-ribbed : styles 

 short, recurved. Fruit dark purple and juicy when ripe. 



Borders of fields, hill-sides, etc. ; common. July - September. The root is a violent 

 emetic, and is sometimes used as a substitute for ipecacuanha (See the works quoted above). 

 The young shoots are said to resemble asparagus, and are often eaten early in the season ; 

 and the berries are sometimes made into pies. The remarkable pith in this and a few other 

 plants has been made the subject of an interesting memoir by Morren, which is published in 

 the London Annals of Natural History, for October, 1839. 



