Pokeweed!!!

Help and Advice from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County

Client's Question:  Hello! Are you able to help with plant ID? My husband and I visited Ukiah (Mendocino County) over the weekend, and I spotted this interesting bush that was in one of the small creek beds in town:

MGCC Help Desk Response:  Thank you for contacting the Master Gardener Help Desk for assistance with your plant identification.

The plant in your photo appears to be Common Pokeweed [Phytolacca americana L.].  It is an erect herbaceous perennial with coarse unpleasant-scented foliage and a thick fleshy taproot. It is also a well-known reseeder. The attraction to this plant is definitely the distinctive flossy purple-black berries and because of its overall beautiful appearance, it is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental plant.  It is a moderate water user and its light requirement is only part shade. Common Pokeweed's habitats are roadsides, gardens, orchards, vineyards, crop fields and other disturbed places.  This plant can get quite large, 6 - 12 feet tall.  The bad news is that all plant parts, especially the root, contain numerous saponins and oxalates that can be fatally toxic to humans and livestock when ingested raw or with improper preparation.

n addition to the fact that the plant parts can be toxic, you need to be aware that this plant is considered an invasive weed in California and could present problems in your (and your neighbors') garden in the future because of the invasive characteristics.

Here is a link for more information on Pokeweed on the California Invasive Plant Council website:  
http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/plant_profiles/Phytolacca_americana.php

And here is a link to an excerpt about Pokeweed and its control from the book “Weed Control in Natural Areas in the Western United States, 2013” by UC Davis Weed Research and Information Center:
http://wric.ucdavis.edu/information/natural%20areas/wr_P/Phytolacca.pdf
Please feel free to to contact us if you have any additional questions.

Help Desk of the UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County

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Note: The  UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA  94523. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/