N.Y.C. Nature Pokeweed is at its most beautiful in early autumn.
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Pokeweed is instantly recognizable and very common throughout New York City.
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In the park, Willow pointed out mugwort and a pokeweed bush teeming with goldfinches.
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Consequently, it may seem strange that pokeweed is avidly sought out as a wild edible.
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In fact, pokeweed is an important food source for myriad songbirds, including cardinals, catbirds and mockingbirds.
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Humans who eat any part of mature pokeweed may experience violent cramping, difficulty breathing, and eventual death by asphyxiation.
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To some, there's a thrill in eating pokeweed — it's the vegetable equivalent of fugu, the famously toxic Japanese blowfish.
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With so many far-less-risky wild edibles to try, reason sides with avoiding pokeweed as a meal altogether.
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American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is not as toxic as fugu, and reported deaths are generally more apocryphal than reality-based.
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Once you've located a site with pokeweed, it's a good bet that the plants will be found there year after year.
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At the point when its shoots are only a few inches tall, pokeweed can be harvested and boiled to make a basic cooked vegetable.
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On a recent drizzly Tuesday morning, a small group of ink enthusiasts—already rain-slicked, under umbrellas and ponchos—stood on Gapstow Bridge, in Central Park, admiring a brilliant-pink pokeweed bush.
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Though Tony Joe White's song is as much about a "straight-razor-toting woman" as any native wild edible, "if some of y'all never been down south too much" (as far south as New York City, for example) you'll find the handsome purple-stemmed pokeweed here in its September prime.
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Irons, who previously spoke to Hyperallergic about her practice, demonstrates the resilience and ingenuity of these marginal species, charting invasive plants like Asiatic dayflower and pokeweed through their migration both into and out of the US. In her work "Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis)" (2012), she tracks the introduction of the flower to the US from China following the Columbian Exchange and observes how the plant's evolution is specifically intertwined with human systems.
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Pokeweed mitogen is a mitogen derived from Phytolacca americana. It functions as a lectin.
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Caffeic aldehyde is a phenolic aldehyde contained in the seeds of Phytolacca americana (American pokeweed).
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Pokeweed is native to eastern North America, the Midwest, and the Gulf Coast, with more scattered populations in the far West. It is also naturalized in parts of Europe and Asia. It is considered a pest species by farmers. Pokeweed is poisonous to humans, dogs, and livestock.
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Pokeweed is promoted in alternative medicine as a dietary supplement intended to treat a wide range of maladies including mumps, arthritis and various skin conditions. While pokeweed has been subject to laboratory research, there is no medical evidence that it has any beneficial effect on human health.
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Soul Taehakkyo Saengyak Yonguso Opjukjip 18, 30–31. Pokeweed also contains lectins, such as pokeweed mitogenBekeredjian- Ding, I., S. Foermer, C. J. Kirschning, M. Parcina, and K. Heeg. 2012. Poke Weed Mitogen Requires Toll-Like Receptor Ligands for Proliferative Activity in Human and Murine B Lymphocytes. PLoS One 7.
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All parts of the plant can be toxic and pose risks to human and mammalian health.John Cardina, Cathy Herms, Tim Koch & Ted Webster, 2015, "Entry: Common Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana", in Ohio Perennial and Biennial Weed Guide, Wooster, OH: Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), see OARDC Pokeweed, accessed 2 May 2015.Michael D. K. Owen, 1988, "Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana L.)", Publication Pm-746 of the Iowa State University Extension Service, Ames, IA: Iowa State University, see , accessed 2 May 2015Jacob L. Heller, 2103, "Pokeweed poisoning", at MedlinePlus (online), October 21, 2013, see , accessed 2 May 2015.CBIF CPPIS, 2013, "All Plants (Scientific Name): Phytolacca americana," at Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Species Bank, Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System, (online), June 5, 2013, see , accessed 2 May 2015.
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The shanglu ( "Phytolacca acinosa; India pokeweed") has edible leaves and poisonous roots. China's oldest extant dictionary, the c. 3rd-century BCE Erya (13: 110) gives two names for pokeweed: chùtāng () and mǎwěi ( "horsetail"). Chinese herbals distinguish two kinds of shanglu, white with white flowers and white root, and red with red flowers and purple root.
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Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) is a ribosome inactivating protein that provide pokeweed plants protection against both viral and fungal infections. It also protects other types of plants that have genetically engineered to express RAP that do not normally do so. Recombinant PAP has also been proposed as a treatment of human diseases such as AIDS and cancer.
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The toxic extract of ripe pokeweed berries can be processed to yield a pink dye.Pesha Black & Micah Hahn, 2004, "Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, Family: Phytolaccaceae," at [Guide to] Practical Plants of New England (student project pages), see , accessed 2 May 2015. During the middle of the 19th century wine often was coloured with juice from pokeberries.Nilsson et al. 1970.
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Phytolacca americana, also known as American pokeweed, pokeweed, poke sallet, dragonberries is a poisonous, herbaceous perennial plant in the pokeweed family Phytolaccaceae growing up to 8 ft (2.4m) in height. It has simple leaves on green to red or purplish stems and a large white taproot. The flowers are green to white, followed by purple to almost black berries which are a food source for songbirds such as gray catbird, northern mockingbird, northern cardinal, and brown thrasher, as well as other birds and some small animals (i.e., to species that are unaffected by its mammalian toxins).
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In the cuisine of the Southern United States and traditional African-American cuisine, turnip, collard, kale, garden cress, dandelion, mustard, and pokeweed greens are commonly cooked, and often served with pieces of ham or bacon. The boiling water, called potlikker, is used as broth. Water in which pokeweed has been prepared contains toxins removed by the boiling, and should be discarded.
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American pokeweed, each supporting many small pedicels. Agave with emergent peduncle. The flowers have not yet emerged from the buds. Note bracts and branches at nodes.
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Pokeweed is native to eastern North America, the Midwest, the Gulf Coast, and the West Coast of the USA. It is an introduced weed in Japan.
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Pokeweed berries are reported to be a good food source for songbirds such as gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinals), brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), other bird species including mourning dove (Zenaida macroura), and cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum). Small mammals apparently tolerant of its toxins include raccoon, opossum, red and gray fox, and the white-footed mouse.Other birds reported to include pokeweed in their diets include bluebirds, crested flycatchers, fish crows, hairy woodpeckers, kingbirds, phoebes, robins, starlings, and yellaw-breasted chats, see Matthews, 1987, op. cit. Pokeweed is used as a sometime food source by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the giant leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia).
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The leaves contain a number of common flavonols. Seeds of pokeweed contain the phenolic aldehyde caffeic aldehyde.Woo, W.S., Kang, S.S., 1979. A new phenolic aldehyde from the seeds of phytolacca americana.
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"The Immortal's Method for Expelling the Three Worms and Concealed Corpses" (mentioned above) claims taking pokeweed root pills will make the Three Worms decompose and come out in the host's feces. The instructions say to mix pokeweed, China-root fungus, alcohol, wheat flour, and yeast, and to seal this in an earthenware jar for 20 days. Once fermented, the adept mixes this with boiled beans in order to make large pills the size of chicken egg yolks.
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Acute toxicity of nivalenol induces bone marrow toxicity and toxicity of lymphoid organs. Long-term exposure may result in erythropenia and/or leukopenia. In mice it was also observed that nivalenol increased the presence of serum IgA, "accompanied by immunopathological changes in kidneys analogous to human IgA-nephropathy". The blastogenesis in cultured human lymphocytes, proliferation of human male and female lymphocytes stimulated with phytoheamagglutin and pokeweed and immunoglobulin production induced by pokeweed, are inhibited by nivalenol.
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Natural forest growth consisted of red, white, and post oak, shortleaf pine, hickory, poplar, elm, dogwood, sourwood, cedar, black and sweetgum, locust, walnut, sassafras, pawpaw, and persimmon. Native perennials include common blue violet, dogfennel, passion flower (maypop), pokeweed, wild garlic.
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There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on wide range of woody and herbaceous plants, including asparagus, aster, bean, broomrape, cherry, clover, dogbane, goldenrod, grasses, milkweed, mustard, pea, pokeweed, raspberry, tobacco, violet, willow and yarrow. Preferred hosts include various slender grasses, including Muhlenbergia and Agrostis.
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If death occurs, it is usually due to respiratory paralysis. Pokeweed poisoning was common in eastern North America during the 19th century, especially from the use of tinctures as antirheumatic preparations and from ingestion of berries and roots that were mistaken for parsnip, Jerusalem artichoke, or horseradish.
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Rivina humilis is a species of flowering plant in the family Petiveriaceae. It was formerly placed in the pokeweed family, Phytolaccaceae. It can be found in the southern United States, the Caribbean, Central America, and tropical South America. Common names include pigeonberry, rougeplant, baby peppers, bloodberry, and coralito.
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Trichostigma octandrum is a species of flowering plant in the family Petiveriaceae. It was formerly placed in the pokeweed family, Phytolaccaceae. It is native to the Neotropics. It is known in English as hoopvine (Florida), black basket wythe, cooper's wythe, basket wiss or basket with, and hoop with.
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Pokeweed berries thumb Pokeweed is a member of the family Phytolaccaceae, and is a large native herbaceous perennial plant, growing up to 2.5m (8 feet) in height over the course of a summer. 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.
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Astragalin is a chemical compound. It can be isolated from Phytolacca americana (the American pokeweed) or in the methanolic extract of fronds of the fern Phegopteris connectilis.Phenolic constituents of the fernPhegopteris connectilis. Klaus-Peter Adam, Phytochemistry, Volume 52, Issue 5, November 1999, Pages 929–934, It is also found in wine.
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A 1969 hit written and performed Tony Joe White, "Polk Salad Annie", is about poke sallet, the cooked greens-like dish made from pokeweed. The lyrics include: > And in the fields looks somethin' like a turnip green > And everybody calls it polk salad, polk salad Elvis Presley covered the song.
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In one study, a toxin (pokeweed antiviral protein) was conjugated to GnRH to target the GnRH receptors on the pituitary gonadotrophs. Treatment of dogs showed a decrease in testosterone, which however was not permanent. A number of approaches of this kind have been attempted with no evidence of effectiveness in any species.
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The female has six teats, two in the axillary region, and four in the inguinal region. They are herbivorous, and have been recorded as eating pokeweed fruit and blackberries. They are believed to either breed year-round, or, at least, to have a prolonged breeding season that lasts for much of the year.
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The entire pokeweed plant contains triterpene saponins such as, phytolaccagenin, jaligonic acid, phytolaccagenic acid (phytolaccinic acid), esculentic acid, and pokeberrygenin (in the berries), as well as phytolaccasides A, B, D, E, and G, and phytolaccasaponins B, E, and G (in the roots).Tang, W. & Eisenbrand, G., 1992, Chinese Drugs of Plant Origin: Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Use in Traditional and Modern Medicine, New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, p. 765. The roots also contain other triterpenoids such as oleanolic acid, α-spinasterol and its glucoside, α-spinasteryl-β-D- glucoside, and a palmityl-derivative, 6-palmytityl-α- spinasteryl-6-D-glucoside, as well as a similarly functionalized stigmasterol derivative, 6-palmityl-Δ7-stigmasterol-Δ-D-glucoside. Pokeweed berries also contain betalain pigments such as betanin and others.
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Phytolaccaceae is a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been almost universally recognized by taxonomists, although its circumscription has varied. It is also known as the Pokeweed family. The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), also recognizes this family and assigns it to the order Caryophyllales in the clade core eudicots.
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This tree is categorized in the same genus as the North American pokeweed. The species is also cultivated in Southern California as a shade tree. Ombú has been declared as a minor invasive species (category 3) in South Africa, where it is widely planted.Glen, Hugh & Van Wyk, Braam (2016) Guide to Trees introduced into South Africa. pp.232-233.
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" (tr. Li 1977: 170). The 1406 Jiuhuang Bencao "Famine Relief Herbal" lists pokeweed as a famine food. It gives instructions for removing the poisonous phytolaccatoxin from the white roots and mentions Daoist xian using the flowers: "Cut them up into slices, scald, then soak and wash repeatedly (throwing away the extract) until the material is clean; then just eat it with garlic.
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Phytolacca japonica is a species of flowering plant in the pokeweed family (Phytolaccaceae). It native to eastern Asia, where it is found in China and Japan (from the Kantō region westward).Phytolacca japonica (in Japanese), Flora of Mikawa Its natural habitat is in forests edges, in ravines and along riversides.Phytolacca japonica Flora of China Phytolacca japonica is an herbaceous perennial, growing to 1.5 meters tall.
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Antiviral proteins are proteins that are induced by human or animal cells to interfere with viral replication. These proteins are isolated to inhibit the virus from replicating in a host's cells and stop it from spreading to other cells. The Pokeweed antiviral protein and the Zinc-Finger antiviral protein are two major antiviral proteins that have undergone several tests for viruses, including HIV and influenza.
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As shown in the sidebar, a 100g serving of pokeweed contains 20 calories and 3.1 grams of carbohydrates, 1.6 grams of sugars, 1.5 grams of dietary fiber, 0.4 grams of fat, 2.3 grams of protein, and is a rich source of vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin C, vitamin K, and manganese. It contains low levels of vitamin B1, vitamin B6, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
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Spot-winged wood quails tend to move around on the ground by day in small groups of typically six to eight, but sometimes up to fifteen. When disturbed they move off into the undergrowth and seldom take to the wing, especially when the group includes chicks. The birds sometimes freeze and crouch. The diet includes fallen nuts of Araucaria and other trees, the berries of pokeweed and other plants and probably invertebrates.
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1870 The English settlers were attracted to the Darby Creek watershed due to the proximity to trading routes and productive landscape. In 1777, British soldiers breached dikes and floodwalls that were constructed on the creek. The Pennsylvania legislature passed an act in 1788 that mandated a maintenance of the dikes and the mowing of plants such as elderberries and pokeweed three times a year. Early English colonists utilized Darby Creek as a source of water power.
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A cluster of Pokeweed berries Plant Type: Perennial herbaceous plant which can reach a height of 3m (10 feet) but is usually 1.2m (4 feet) to 2m (6 feet). The plant must be a few years old before the root grows large enough to support this size. The stem is usually red late in the season. There is an upright, erect central stem early in the season, which changes to a spreading, horizontal form later with the weight of the berries.
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American black bear - FWS The cluster's large area provides essential habitat for the black bear population, an umbrella species contributing to the biological diversity of the Appalachians. The area gives bear a refuge from human activities, and the availability of critical food in the form of acorns from oaks, as well as spring and summer foods such as blueberries, blackberries, pokeweed and huckleberries. Bears require space for escape cover and winter dens. Without the forest lands in the Appalachians, the black bear population would be threatened.
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Larval forms of Syritta pipiens feed on decaying organic matter. Adult flies feed on the flowers of water-willow (Dianthera americana L.), white vervain (Verbena urticifolia L.), American pokeweed (Phytolacca decandra L.), and candyleaf (Stevia rebaudiana). They pollinate bluebell flowers (Campanula rotundifolia L.), which is a perennial herbaceous plant, with blue flowers. List of flowers they also visit: Achillea, Allium, Aster, Calluna, Cardamine, Cirsium palustre, Convolvulus, Crataegus, Epilobium, Euphorbia, Galium, Jasione montana, Leontodon, Polygonum cuspidatum, Potentilla erecta, Prunus laurocerasus, Ranunculus, Rosa canina, Senecio jacobaea, Sorbus aucuparia, Tussilago.
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Fried salt pork with gravy was an indulgent fat-laden dish often served with a side of boiled potatoes. In the Appalachian region a dish called "killed lettuce" was made with pokeweed, dandelion and assorted wild greens that were drizzled with hot bacon grease until wilted or "killed". Pie could be served up to three times a day and many varieties were prepared depending on the season. During the spring months, pies would be made of rhubarb and strawberry; in summer peach, cherry, blackberry, blueberry, elderberry and grape; and in fall apple.
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Oleanolic acid can be found in olive oil, Phytolacca americana (American pokeweed), and Syzygium spp, garlic, etc. It was first studied and isolated from several plants, including Olea europaea (leaves, fruit), Rosa woodsii (leaves), Prosopis glandulosa (leaves and twigs), Phoradendron juniperinum (whole plant), Syzygium claviflorum (leaves), Hyptis capitata (whole plant), Mirabilis jalapaConstituents of Mirabilis jalapa. Siddiqui S., Siddiqui B.S., Adil Q. and Begum S., Fitoterapia, 1990, Volume 61, No. 5, page 471 (abstract ) and Ternstroemia gymnanthera (aerial part). Other Syzygium species including java apple (Syzygium samarangense) and rose apples contain it.
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Phytolacca americana or pokeweed is also known as pokeberry,USDA-ARS, 2015, "Taxon: Phytolacca americana L.," at National Genetic Resources Program.Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database], National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, see , accessed 2 May 2015. poke root, Virginia poke (or simply poke),Bailey, L.H., Bailey, E.Z., and the staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium, 1976, Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada, New York, NY:Macmillan, , see , accessed 2 May 2015. pigeonberry, inkberry, redweed or red ink plant.
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Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) note that Pokeweed is to be avoided during pregnancy and children consuming even one berry may require emergency treatment. The plant sap can cause dermatitis in sensitive people. Birds are apparently immune to this poison. The plant is not palatable to animals and is avoided unless little else is available or it is present in contaminated hay, but horses, sheep and cattle have been poisoned by eating fresh leaves or green fodder and pigs have been poisoned by eating the roots.
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After 20 hours, she slowed to 2 knots and took up station keeping off the North West coast of Puerto Rico. At around 12:30 the second evening, 2 helicopters arrived, delivering SEAL Team Six to the Forrestal's deck. The crew and its visitors cruised for 3 days to the South West Caribbean sea off the Panama and Colombian coasts, where Seal Team Six departed. It is unclear if the operation was an attempt to capture Manuel Noriega, or if it was in support of Operation Pokeweed to apprehend Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
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In early spring, shoots and leaves (not the root) are edible with proper cooking, but they later become deadly, and the berries are also poisonous. It is used as an ornamental in horticulture, and it provokes interest for the variety of its natural products (toxins and other classes), for its ecological role, its historical role in traditional medicine, and for some utility in biomedical research (e.g., in studies of pokeweed mitogen). In the wild, it is easily found growing in pastures, recently cleared areas, and woodland openings, edge habitats such as along fencerows, and in wastelands.
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The southern part of the plot represented the youngest stage and now has birch trees and beaked hazelnut shrubs, with a layer of wildflowers beneath. The center features a small grove of beech trees (grown from saplings transplanted from Sonfist’s favorite childhood park in the Bronx) and a woodland with red cedar, black cherry, and witch hazel above groundcover of mugwort, Virginia creeper, aster, pokeweed, and milkweed. The northern area is a mature woodland dominated by oaks, with scattered white ash and American elm trees. Among the numerous other species in this miniforest are oak, sassafras, sweetgum, and tulip trees, arrowwood and dogwood shrubs, bindweed and catbrier vines, and violets.
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Because at this time Powhatan was still the dominant language, and because during the early years the English were dependent on the Powhatan for food, the English had to learn the newly encountered language. The English language started borrowing many words from Powhatan; the language has been credited with being the source of more English loans than any other indigenous language. Most such words were likely borrowed very early, probably before Powhatan—English conflict arose in 1622. Among these words are: chinquapin (Castanea pumila), chum (as in chumming), hickory, hominy, matchcoat, moccasin, muskrat, opossum, persimmon, pokeweed, pone (as in corn pone), raccoon, terrapin, tomahawk, and wicopy.
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Further unlisted names that appear at WebMD include American Nightshade, American Spinach, Baie de Phytolaque d'Amérique, Bear's Grape, Branching Phytolacca, Cancer Jalap, Chongras, Coakum, Coakum-Chorngras, Cokan, Crowberry, Épinard de Cayenne, Épinard des Indes, Faux Vin, Fitolaca, Garget, Herbe à la Laque, Hierba Carmin, Jalap, Kermesbeere, Laque, Phytolacca Berry, Phytolacca americana, Phytolacca decandra, Phytolaque Américaine, Phytolaque à Baies, Phytolaque Commun, Phytolaque d'Amérique, Pocan, Raisin d'Amérique, Red Plant, Scoke, Skoke, Teinturier, Teinturière, Vigne de Judée. See WebMD, 2015, "Pokeweed," at WebMD: Vitamin and Supplement (online), , accessed 2 May 2015. As food, it is called poke sallet, or more commonly poke salad, sometimes spelled polk salad.
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While the potato had originated in South America, it did not become established in North America until it was brought to the colonies by northern British settlers in the 18th century and became an important backcountry staple along with corn. The pork had been a food taboo among northern Britons and the primary meat had been sheep. In the American colonies, the raising of sheep was not as efficient and mutton was therefore replaced with pork. The habit of eating "sallet" or "greens" remained popular, but the vegetables of the Old World were replaced with plants like squashes, gourds, beans, corn, land cress, and pokeweed.
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The forests have been altered by logging in the 1920s and the loss of the American Chestnut by the chestnut blight. Besides red spruce and yellow birch, the forest includes eastern hemlock, a tree fast disappearing after infestation by the hemlock wooly adelgid, as well as oak and hickory common in the Virginia section of the Appalachians ., Spring wildflowers include bellwort, bloodroot, columbine, dwarf iris, fire pink, hepatica, jack-in-the-pulpit, lady slipper, ragwort, Solomon’s seal spring beauty, trailing arbutus trillium, trout lily, several varieties of violets, wild germanium, wild ginger and wintergreen. In summer and fall the flower display turns to black-eyed susans, boneset, goldenrods, grass of parnassus, great blue lobelia, Indian pipe, joe pye weed, milkweed, pokeweed, stiff gentian, and jewel weed.
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On Saturday morning, Mitchell arrives at Mr. Hunter's home, where he is greeted by Mr. Hunter, who at the time of his arrival is icing a cake. In the time while Mitchell is at Mr. Hunter's home, Mitchell learns a great deal about the history of Sandy Ground. While in the kitchen, the two men discuss multiple concepts—such as the wildflower pokeweed that the older women of Sandy Ground, including Mr. Hunter's mother, believed that they root had healing properties, even though others just generally regard them as poisonous. Following this, there's commentary about what kind of wood Mr. Hunter's house is built of, and talk about how much he despises flies while the two men are sitting on the porch, (as well as a discussion about the history of Sandy Ground, which started due to the wanting of oysters).
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