Poke Salad

Poke salad (Phytolacca americana) is a perennial that is native to the eastern United States. It has been suggested that the early white settlers adopted “poke” from the Algonquian name pocan. It has also been known as pokeweed, poke salute, pokeberry, inkberry, and numerous other local names. It resprouts early every spring from a tuberous root. By midsummer it has flowered, its main stalk has turned red, and it may be as high as ten feet tall. Grapelike clusters of berries hanging from its limbs turn deep purple by early fall.