Pokeweed (Phytolacca Americana)

 Pokeweed  

Pokeweed (Phytolacca Americana), is an interesting plant because it is sometimes eaten and very poisonous.  It is a native North American plant with ornamental qualities and a role in natural ecosystems.  It can be found both in gardens and along roadsides and in fields.  Some other common names for the plant include Ink Plant, Pokeberry and American Cancer root.

Recently there have been many social media mentions of pokeweed as a treatment for arthritis and cancer, among other things.  These may have been uses for the plant in previous times but modern research has found no benefit in controlled trials.  Old folk remedies sometimes worked, but a great many did not.  There was no way to tell in earlier times if the victim died from the disease or its supposed cure. Or if he or she recovered that it was in spite of the cure administered instead of because of it.  

Most reputable herbalists and all medical sources classify pokeweed as harmful/poisonous.  There are a number of chemicals produced by the plant that are toxic.  You can get the full list of those here: https://www.drugs.com/npp/pokeweed.html    

The American Association of Poison Control Centers lists Pokeweed in the top 5 list of poisonings caused by plants.

If a plant can cure something it has to be toxic on some level and a cure versus death by poisoning often depends on a very fine line of dosage strength or method of administering a dose.  Even aspirin can kill or cause severe injury if you take too much.  It’s too fine of a line in the case of pokeweed.  In research chemicals are often isolated from the whole plant in order to try and remove dangerous chemicals from those that might be helpful.  And in the case of pokeweed even that process has been fraught with problems, most compounds that even showed promise proved too toxic to be safely used.

Some people claim the ripe berries are not harmful if cooked.  That claim has generally been discredited with several poisonings reported from pies made with the berries.  It has been claimed that an adult can eat 10 uncooked berries without harm, but that report never says what happens when you eat the 11^th berry.  CDC and poison control centers have several documented cases where children were poisoned with just a few berries.  There are undoubtedly many cases of mild poisoning that have occurred without being reported.

The roots and mature leaves and stems of pokeweed are extremely poisonous.  Powdered concoctions of these are used as herbal remedies but without extreme care these can have serious or fatal consequences.  Even handling mature plants and getting plant sap on the skin can cause poisoning.

And while poke salad is a southern tradition there’s evidence that even that practice has risks.  People desperate for something to eat in early spring learned that if you boiled the young leaves of pokeweed for 5 minutes, then poured off the water rinsed the leaves, and then boiled them again for 5 minutes you could eat the slimy mess.  That tradition still has its followers, even though safer greens are now usually available.

For this “salad” practice to be safe the leaves have to be picked very young, before they have picked up a reddish tinge.  All parts of the pokeweed plant are poisonous; the poison is just less concentrated in young leaves.   If done incorrectly or the plants gathered are unusually toxic due to weather or soil conditions problems can result.  One such poisoning was documented by the FDA.  (http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/plantox/detail.cfm?id=4830)

In this case a day camp in New Jersey decided to cook some pokeweed for campers to sample.  They followed the boil, rinse and re-boil practice.  Between 30 minutes and 5 hours after eating the pokeweed 20 of the 46 people who tasted the pokeweed became ill, 18 had to be treated in emergency rooms and 4 were hospitalized.  Most of the ill people had eaten more than a teaspoon of the poke weed and those who didn’t become ill had barely tasted it.  The CDC did extensive workups on all the food served to exclude other causes of illness.

What happens in pokeweed poisoning?

When raw plant parts are ingested there is generally a burning sensation in the mouth. That’s a warning not to eat more. Usually mild poisoning results in vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea.  Since in earlier times purges were considered to be good for the body people experiencing these symptoms might not classify it as poisoning, just a good spring purge.

But larger doses of the various toxins in pokeweed result in severe projectile vomiting, profuse bloody diarrhea, severe dehydration, excruciating pain in the stomach, weakness, severe headache, muscle spasms, convulsions, rapid heartbeat, low blood pressure, and difficulty in breathing or respiratory failure.  Pregnant women may abort, poisoning causes uterine contractions and bleeding.   It is also thought that pregnant woman who survive may have babies with deformities or medical issues.

Pokeweed poisoning can cause death.  Postmortem findings have included gross lesions caused by severe gastroenteritis; congestion of internal organs; histological lesions, and stomach ulcerations with hemorrhage.  If one suspects pokeweed poisoning medical attention should be immediately sought.  This is especially important in the case of children.

Pokeweed is not a plant for home herbalists to experiment with.  There are many safer herbs and medicinal plants.  There has never been any scientific evidence that pokeweed used as an herbal remedy has cured anything.

Facts about the plant

Pokeweed becomes a large plant, up to 6 feet high, with thick, sturdy reddish stems.  It is a perennial plant that dies to the ground each year and forms progressively larger clumps when it returns.  The leaves are thick, long and oval in shape, larger at the base of the plant, and arranged alternately on the stems.  New spring leaves have red veins and may be tinged with red.  The plant has a big, thick taproot.  The impressive size and color of the stems convince many gardeners to plant it for visual interest.

In the north Poke begins blooming in July.  The small greenish-white flowers are on long spikes at the top and sometimes on smaller side shoots of the plant.  Each flower turns into a green berry that ripens to purple black.  The juice of the Pokeberries is a deep red.  It will stain hands and clothing and was used by early settlers in place of ink. The plants prefer rich soil and grow in full sun or partial shade.

Birds love the berries and spread the seeds far and wide, making purple stains as they go.  As a native plant pokeweed has a place in nature, but gardeners should make an educated decision as to whether they are a candidate for their garden.  Once the plant is in the garden it is often an aggressive spreader.

All parts of the plant are considered poisonous.   The plant juices can be absorbed by the skin and are poisonous.  Wear gloves when handling plants.  Berries are attractive and care should be taken that children don’t eat them.  The plants are poisonous to pets and livestock also, with the exception of berries eaten by birds.

In conclusion pokeweed is a poisonous plant.  Research has confirmed that and a wise person would disregard anecdotal stories about miracle cures and avoid herbal remedies made with it.  People have been eating poke salad for centuries and if that’s your thing, just be really careful how you cook your greens.  Pokeweed shouldn’t be eliminated from all places.  If we did that with all poisonous plants we’d have few natives left.  If you want it in your garden because it’s pretty and you understand its dangers, go for it.