What are the characteristics of pokeweed? A complete guide to pokeweed

Flowers & Gardening Jan 1, 1970 0 views

As a child, I often saw a purple-red fruit around the front and back of the house, and girls would use it to dye their nails. This beautiful plant has a rather literary name, pokeweed. Come and get to know this plant with me.

PhytolaccaceaeGenus

Phytolaccaceae, Phytolacca, Latin scientific name Phytolacca acinosa Roxb

Pokeweed alternative names

Zhangliu, large amaranth, mountain radish, jianzhongxiao, daoshuilian, jinqiniang, zhumaer, baimuji

Pokeweed distribution

Pokeweed is widely distributed in the red soil hilly areas south of the Yangtze River, and is mainly produced in North China and Central China. Among the varieties currently distributed in China, the main ones are Phytolacca acinosa and Phytolacca americana.

Pokeweed morphological characteristics

Pokeweed is a perennial herbaceous plant, and the entire plant surface is hairless. It has a conical fleshy root, relatively thick, with the outer bark appearing pale yellow or grayish brown and the inner surface yellow-white; the pokeweed stem is erect, cylindrical, with longitudinal grooves on the surface. The stem is green in young parts and purple-red in old parts, and is much branched; the leaves are ovate, with a thin papery texture, the leaf tip gradually pointed, the base wedge-shaped and gradually narrowed, with small white spots scattered on both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf, and the midvein raised on the lower surface. Pokeweed has a spike inflorescence, blooms in summer and autumn, and the flowers are white. It has eight separate carpels. The berry is purple-black, oblate, and grows in clusters.

Pokeweed growing environment

Pokeweed has very strong vitality and is distributed in plains, hills and mountainous areas, and is commonly seen along roadsides and around the front and back of houses. Pokeweed likes warm and humid climate conditions, and the suitable growth temperature is between14~30°C; after autumn, the aboveground part of pokeweed withers after leaf fall, while the underground fleshy root can tolerate low temperatures of-15°C, and when it is warm the next year, the fleshy root sprouts and drives the growth of the aboveground part; pokeweed has very strong adaptability to soil and has no special requirements for soil, and basically can grow in any soil.