Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Pokeweed
This tall, (6-feet plus) herbaceous bush is commonly found along the edges of fields and roadside ditches in the Shenandoah Valley.
It is an "early pioneer" of recently disturbed ground, as when an overgrown lot is cleared of brush and vines prior to development.
A native perennial, it dies back over the winter and puts out new stalks with the return of warm temperatures.
Although the bush is quite colorful and eye-catching at a distance, it was I when I took a closer look—considered, as Jesus said—that I could appreciate the beauty of these lilies.
Then, instead of just a tall weed growing along the fence line of my property, I found a beautiful display of star-like flowers arrayed at the end of every branch
The flowers are distinctive, in that the embryonic fruit is visible as a green capsule in the center while the flower is still open.
Another distinguishing feature is the lack of petals on the flowers: The petal-like white forms framing the green center are actually sepals—the usually green outer covering of a blossom, which comprise the calyx or husk of the bud.
(Other flowers without petals in the Gallery are Thimbleweed and Flowering Spurge.)
In mid-summer the capsules ripen into these grape-like berries. This fruit was used to make a dye and ink by the early colonists, thus another name, Ink Berry.
Although they appear juicy and appealing, something like grapes, the berry, indeed the entire plant, is poisonous.
The entire plant contains toxins that can cause burns to the tissues of the mouth, throat, and stomach irritation, followed by vomiting, bloody diarrhea, spasms, and can end in fatal convulsions, if ingested.
Even casual contact: cutting the stem or leaves or touching the crushed berries can allow the toxin to be absorbed through the skin.
The leaves were at one time eaten in the American South as "poke salad," but only after the leaves were washed several times. (It is believed that Indians introduced the first settlers in Virginia to "poke sallat.")
In more recent times botanists have educated the public about the danger of contact with, let alone, eating the leaves of Phytolacca americana , washed or not. Even repeated washings will not remove the poison.
So, as we usually do: We'll be content with visual enjoyment of these beautiful "lilies of the field" and find our "salat" elsewhere!
Go to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.