Can anyone tell me what this plant is? I’m in the SE US
Poke weed. Very invasive and hard to get rid of. Those berries are going to get bigger and turn purple. Birds love them and you will find purple bird poop on everything - vehicles included (and it stains). Poor people used to eat it as a delicacy when the leaves were young but it has to be cooked well after that since it is poisonous.
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Yep poke. Dig’em up. And yes, pokeberry juice stains everything it touches!
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Ugh. Ok thank you. Are they toxic to horses/dogs? I was worried it was nightshade
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I just bend them over and snap the stalk. It is probably better to dig ‘em up but I just snap them.
This thing is about 5’ tall. But it’s coming out. Not sure how I missed it .
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According to wiki:
All parts of the plant can be toxic and pose risks to human and mammalian health.[9][28][29][30][31] Toxins are found in highest concentration in the rootstock, then leaves and stems, then the ripe fruit.[28][29] The plant generally gets more toxic with maturity,[28] with the exception of the berries, which are dangerous even while green.[31]
Children may be attracted by clusters of berries.[9] Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) notes:[28]
Children are most frequently poisoned by eating raw berries. Infants are especially sensitive and have died from eating only a few raw berries. Adults have been poisoned, sometimes fatally, by eating improperly prepared leaves and shoots, especially if part of the root is harvested with the shoot, and by mistaking the root for an edible tuber. Research with humans has also shown that common pokeweed can cause mutations (possibly leading to cancer) and birth defects. Since the juice of pokeweed can be absorbed through the skin, contact of plant parts with bare skin should be avoided.
Pokeweed is to be avoided during pregnancy and children consuming even one berry may require emergency treatment.[13] The plant sap can cause dermatitis in sensitive people.[13]
The plant is not palatable to most animals and is avoided unless little else is available or it is present in contaminated hay, but horses, sheep and cattle have been poisoned by eating fresh leaves or green fodder and pigs have been poisoned by eating the roots.[28][ copyright violation? ]
If death occurs, it is usually due to respiratory paralysis.[9]
Pokeweed poisoning was common in eastern North America during the 19th century, especially from the use of tinctures as antirheumatic preparations and from ingestion of berries and roots that were mistaken for parsnip, Jerusalem artichoke, or horseradish.[32]
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Thank you!! We are out doing hurricane cleanup and I was going to do more googling of this thing later!
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Yikes! Thank you.
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Neither dogs nor horses will typically eat pokeweed or nightshade. Even if it is baled
Into their hay, they will avoid it. I have had both growing all around my property and my pastures and never had a problem.
Poke is highly invasive so it’s worth getting rid of just so it doesn’t keep growing bigger, but it can be hard to stay ahead of it.
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I have this one and see some more on my neighbors side of my back fence. It’s wooded property so they won’t care if I get rid of it. I sure don’t want anymore !
Pokeberry isn’t invasive, it’s native, but it can definitely be aggressive. It’s a very valuable plant/food source for a lot of insects and birds
Yes, it’s toxic for the most part, but leaves ARE edible, if prepared right, when young. “Poke salad” is a thing
If it’s where younger kids, dogs/cats would be tempted to nibble, it needs to go. Horses pretty well leave it alone, but some random weirdo might decide to snack.
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I have it on the edges of my pastures and it has invaded all my naturalized flower beds. It is really hard to get rid of. Birds love the berries and poop them out everywhere. And it is hard to get rid of the mature plant because there are extensive roots and a rhizome that overwinters. I think the best way to kill the plant is to cut off the stem and paint the base of the stem with full strength Roundup while it is growing. The plant sucks up the herbicide into the roots and it dies. If you don’t dig up all the roots it comes back.
I have never had a horse eat it. And I don’t partake of “Poke Salat”. Blech! It ranks right up there with Chinese Privet and poison ivy as far as I am concerned.
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I actually didn’t know it was toxic until I looked it up bc I’ve never seen anything eat it. I can see the danger to little kids, though: ooh, pretty berries! If you don’t dig up the taproot, it can come back, like a dandelion.
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Oh that stuff is a nightmare to get rid off. It will haunt you. I finally fought mine with fire as a last ditch effort and it eradicated it for several years, then wee sprouts showed up again in the very same spot. It’s like the cockroach of the plant world.
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Agree. I am not at all a fan of Roundup but I used it on those! They did not come back.
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Thanks I’ll def do the round up thing
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Sorry, I just had to do this
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I actually find it pretty easy to get rid of with frequent cutting back, either weed whacking it or taking the loppers to it. Or pull out the babies.
I had a whole hill of it that was gone the next year, just keeping it from getting to the berries point. It pops up here and there from birds or whatever bringing it in but at long as I knock it back, no problems!
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Pokeweed. NOT invasive. It is a native to eastern US. The birds love it. It will be a pest, pops up pretty much everywhere.
I have deliberately supported an absolutely gorgeous specimen. Right now it is the most beautiful purple and green shrub. Loaded with berries, with the fall migration, I’m picking up different warblers and thrushes each day in it.
My horses aren’t starving. They aren’t going to even look at it, or its babies.
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