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Phytolacca americana L.

Synonym	:	Phytolacca americana var. americana
Family	:	Phytolaccaceae
Local name	:	English : American pokeweed
Distribution	:	Native to eastern North America, the Midwest, the Gulf Coast, and the West Coast of the USA.
Habitat	:	Pastures, recently cleared areas, and woodland openings, edge habitats such as along fencerows, and in wastelands.
Uses	:	Poke is a traditional southern Appalachian food. The leaves and stems of young plants can be eaten, but must be cooked by boiling two or more times with the water drained and replaced each time. The leaves taste similar to spinach; the stems, similar to asparagus.
Key botanical characters             :  herbaceous perennial plant, One to several branches grow from the crown of a thick, white, fleshy taproot, each a "stout, smooth, green to somewhat purplish stem;" with simple, entire leaves with long petioles alternately arranged along the stem. Pokeweeds reproduce only by their large, glossy black, lens-shaped seeds, which are contained in a fleshy, 10-celled, purple-to-near-black berry that has crimson juice. The flowers are perfect, radially symmetric, white or green, with 4-5 sepals and no petals. The flowers develop in elongated clusters termed racemes. The seeds have long viability.