An expert in gardening provides responses to queries regarding American pokeweed. Determine whether or not this shrub is a native species and whether or not the berries of pokeweed are harmful.
M. Myers: American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) produces these stunning mystery berries. This plant probably travelled by bird. Many thicket and woodland songbirds consume pokeweed berries.
Are Pokeweed Berries Safe to Eat?
1
Raccoons, opossums, and grey foxes consume pokeweed berries, as do many songbirds that live in thickets and woodlands.
Look for these plants in open forests, moist thickets, clearings, roadsides, and disturbed areas. Melinda believes pokeweed is native to Ontario, southern Quebec, New England, New York, Minnesota, Florida,
Where to Find a Pokeweed Plant
2
Pokeweed attracts grey catbirds and northern mockingbirds, although it can become invasive.
“My birds give pokeweed two thumbs up!” comments Columbia, South Carolina reader Ginger Brandt.
Wildlife Benefit
3
Grey catbirds and northern mockingbirds are two of the birds that are particularly fond of pokeweed; nevertheless, you should be cautious about the locations in which you plant it because it has the potential
How to Care for Poinsettias Now and After the Holidays