Subject: Re: Toxicity of pokeweed?
From: <hartman@REMOVE.acpub.duke.edu>
Organization: Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Date: 9 Sep 1997 10:50:04 -0400
Message-ID: <MOD$970909.4046@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$970907.27310@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
In article <MOD$970907.27310@rec.gardens.ecosystems>, dhs wrote:
>One of the elegant weeds I let grow in my new garden this year is pokeweed.
>I now read that is it poisonous. I intend to pull it out completely, and I
>want to ask:
>
>is there any problem in just pulling it out and cutting the fruit/seed away
>to discard them?
>is there any problem with using ther rest of the plant in compost?
I don't think you need to worry about composting the poke. The toxin in
pokeweed affects the gastro-intestinal track of mammals. I believe birds
eat the berries with no ill effects.
By the way, it is the red parts of the plants that contain the toxin. The
young shoots can be gathered in the springtime (before there is any sign
of red on the plant) and eaten as a vegetable. I have tried this a few
times, but even with a few changes of blanching water, they are still very
bitter. [See Eule Gibbons _Stalking the Wild Asparagus_]
As the plant matures over the summer, the plant contains more toxins. The
ruby colored berries contain the highest concentrations. The few cases of
poke poisoning are usually from children eating the berries. (Rarely fatal,
as one usually becomes very sick before eating a lethal dose, and the taste
is *very* bitter.)
Something else to think about: "pulling it all out" is easier said than
done. Go out to the garden and look where the poke is growing. You'll see
that the stalks are arranged in long lines. That's because the stalks are
growing from a common root (tuber?). This root is several feet deep and
can be quite long. The diameter can be as big around as your leg.
Digging up the root is generally not a possibility. You'll have to content
yourself to pulling out the stalks each summer, and maybe, if you're
lucky, the root will eventually die after a few years. However, it is a
very pretty plant in the summer time. As long as it is not too invasive,
it can make a colorful addition to a semi-wild meadow garden.
The long root does make it easy to find the edible shoots in the early spring
if you're interested. Just find the dead stalks from the year before (which
will have turned black but still stand 3 - 6 feet tall) and use them
to determine where the root is. Follow that line to look for the new
shoots. [Get a good edible wild plant identification book before trying
this].
--
Steve
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