pokeweed (Phytolacca americana / Phytolacca decandra)
native, weed
pictures taken in september
also known as just poke (and variations thereof - poke berry, poke salad, poke root...) and a range of other names including skoke, garget, inkberry, and cancer jalap.
pokeweed is large and quite distinctive! nothing else looks that much like pokeweed, especially when it's big. it has thick but hollow branches/stems that turn red in late summer, big leaves, and of course its dark purple-red berries. birds love pokeberries, and since they're toxic to mammals they're a great food source for them. wild urban plants of the northeast writes, "for the worried parents of young children, it should be noted that the hard, black seeds inside pokeberry fruits are toxic, but the fleshy, purple coat that surrounds them is not." the berries look very tempting! they are not, however, tasty.
people have been eating various parts of the poke plant for a long time, and it is particularly a staple in southern appalachia, although with a number of caveats. you have to harvest only the young shoots and leaves and boil them (some sources say you have to boil them twice); otherwise they're toxic. the stems supposedly taste like asparagus and the leaves taste like spinach once they're not poison any more. there's less information available about the taste of the berries; they're mostly used to make ink or dye. the juice is quick to stain hands and cloth; it's more pink than blackberries, at least on the hands.
for science, i tried a berry (i squished it against the roof of my mouth with my tongue and then spat out the seeds so as to not get poisoned). it was gross! it has an initial mild tart berry taste which quickly sours into a very strong and very unpleasant taste. i was surprised at how powerful the nasty taste was from such a small berry! would not recommend!