Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Caryophyllales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Phytolacca americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Common Pokeweed at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phytolacca americana var. americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 068-01-001:
Phytolacca americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
COMMON NAME:
Common Pokeweed, Poke
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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JK Marlow jkm150224_705
February Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm100427_001
April Greenville County SC
Leaf blades elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or ovate-lanceolate, per Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States.
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Roxanna Martin rlm51511_16
May Spartanburg County SC
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JK Marlow jkm200625_6077
June Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Bloom where you are planted...
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JK Marlow jkm0407b_05
July Greenville County SC
Roadside
Smooth stems are strongly tinged with red-purple, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Roxanna Martin rlm7210_167
July Spartanburg County SC
5-30 stamens that are as long as the sepals. Superior ovary, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Roxanna Martin rlm7210_180
July Spartanburg County SC
Fruiting pedicels usually 7-12mm long (longer than those of P. rigida), per Weakley's Flora (2012).
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_americana_2
July
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_americana_2b
July
Flowers have 5 round greenish-white or pinkish petaloid sepals [no petals], per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
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Steve Marlow snm9807_17a
July Greenville County SC
Said to grow to 10' tall, but that's 3 yardsticks end to end that I'm holding.
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JK Marlow jkm200808_6956
August Transylvania County NC
DuPont State Forest
Flowers, developing fruit, and ripe fruit - all at once!
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Roxanna Martin rlm82308_019
August Spartanburg County SC
Fruiting raceme divergent or drooping. Berries once used as a source of ink, per Weakley's Flora (2020).
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JK Marlow jkm061022_007
October Pickens County SC
Roadside
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Paul Thompson pstphytolacca_americana2
Month Unknown
Raceme may be erect in flower, or divergent or drooping in flower and fruit, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Phytolacca americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phytolacca americana var. americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 068-01-001:
Phytolacca americana
FAMILY
Phytolaccaceae
1079
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC
Common
Look for it in a wide variety of natural & disturbed habitats, usually associated with exposed mineral soil, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a more detailed map from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium,
or click here to see a map from SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
...Variable
LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Petioles 1-5cm long
Margins entire or sometimes crisped [wavy or crinkled]
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Greenish-white
Bisexual
5 sepals
Petals absent
5-30 stamens
Superior ovary
Flowers in racemes
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Purplish-black
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses p142
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p070
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p389
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p200
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p052
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p119
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry p208
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p006
- Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition p055
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p065
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p050
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p072
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p422
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p035
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region p321