Wednesday, 8 October 2025

WW: Poke berries



(Another rivetting instalment in the saga of the wayfaring poke [Phytolacca americana] that's mysteriously turned up in the neighbourhood, thousands of miles from its native range. Here you see its ripe, deep-purple berries, whose poisonous juice was once used as ink in settler communities far from mine.

Invasive, but fascinating.)



Appearing also on My Corner of the World.

5 comments:

  1. Lovely capture and interesting information!

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  2. Nice shot! We have these everywhere here.

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  3. A tragic irony of life: What looks attractive and appetizing is poisonous and deadly.

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  4. Well, it's far from the only invasive we have, but a brand-new experience for me. Took me some time to ID last spring, since I'd never seen it in this region before. (And I only had the leaves to go by then.)

    Lots of invasives are lovely, which I suppose is how they got here. But to the best of my knowledge, no-one plants poke in landscaping. So the mystery of its arrival in my neighbourhood – and rapid expansion here, including one veritable tree at least 10 feet tall – goes on.

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