Poke Weed In My Name But You Can Call Me Polk Salad
October 13th, 2008 | By: Jamie Jamison AdamsAsk the Expert: What is it?
This plant is growing along my driveway and I have no idea what it is or if the berries are edible. It dies every winter and comes back every spring and gets larger every year. Thank you. Randy
Polk Salad
Poke Weed
Poke Berry Plant
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October 13th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Randy,
The plant you have is called Poke Weed in the genius of Phytolacca. It is a perennial that goes by many names one of the most common being Poke Salad. Other names include poke, pokebush, pokeberry, pokeroot, polk sallet or ombú. Although some places in the southern U. S. eat this plant it is poisonous to humans and other mammals. However, birds do eat the berries and expel them whole which helps the plant to spread.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Thank you
I have been wondering about that for years.
August 24th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
In the South people collect the leaves and boil them; pouring off the water 3 times before using the leave for cooking. Chopped up and mixed with eggs the plant has a tast loosely related to spinach.
Tastey.
If you don't pour the cooked water off 3 times, it may make your bowels a bit loose.
September 14th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
I was trying to pull up a poke week and it broke and part of the stalk went into my finger pretty far. In an hour or 2 my finger was swollen, red and hot. My question is whether the stalk is very poisonious in a situation like this. Just wondering how much I should worry about this.
September 15th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
I would say the swollen redness is a result of trauma when the stalk went into your finger. If you ingest the berries they can be toxic. However, other parts of the plant have been used for medicinal purposes. You may be having an allergic reaction. I would contact your doctor.