What kind of berries?

[ohsoloco]

Sorry, no pics for this one, but I just HAVE to know what kind of plant this is.  I see them all over the place here in central PA.  They're growing all along a road by my house right next to the corn fields.  The "bush" averages about four feet tall, and the stalk and all of the stems are sorta purple.  The leaves are green, and there are lots of clusters of very dark berries that resemble clusters of grapes.  The birds must eat them, cuz they're popping up in the bushes by my parent's house where the birds nest.  Any ideas on this one 

[Tom]

It could be American Beautyberry if the berries are grouped on the stem around the base of a leaf.


http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=417.0

[beenthere]

Sumac?

Rhus typhina
Staghorn sumac

[ohsoloco]

No, neither of those are it.  The "trunk" and stems are the first thing you notice about the plant...they are very purplish-red.  Haven't seen any over 6 feet tall, but they almost have the shape of a tree.  The clusters of berries hang down from the stems, and I'd say they're about the size of a blueberry.  I gotta start taking some pics 

[SkidrowJoe]

Hey,

I live in State College, may be one day I could swing by and ID it for you.  It could be Privet, Black Haw, Buckthorn, or many other possiblities.

[ohsoloco]

Geez, we're pretty much neighbors      I've been meaning to ask you what part of PA you live in for some time, and here you're just up the road.  I work second shift, but I'm always around on the weekends...we'll have to get together sometime 

Now I gotta go google all of those suggestions 

...no luck with those 

[eldorado]

Sounds like pokeweed to me.

[Tom]

To not have been supplied a picture, that is a DanG good guess, eldorado.

[Teri]

That was the first thing I thought of was them poke berries. I remember when I was little we had a neighbor that was like a grandmother to us,and she would have me and my brother go out and pick some polk leaves for her to cook.

And of course,when the berries were ripe we would pick them and try to paint pictures on the corral boards.   
Usually we would end up wearing most of it. 

[ohsoloco]

  Nice job eldorado 

That's the plant I have been seeing all over the place.  Soooo, now the magic question...are the berries any good   

[Tom]

(The berries, the mature (older) leaves, roots and the stems are poisonous.

The recipes you hear of Poke salad are made with younger leaves.
Young shoots of 5 or 6 inches can be cut as you would asparagus.

Leaves cooked in a salet are boiled twice and the water discarded to rid them of their poisons.

This information is readily available from a multitude of Internet sites.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MV115

[size=09pt]The following information, from the link above,
is provided to the People of Florida to reproduce
in whole or in partas long as credit is given to
UF/IFAS (University of Florida/ Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences)
It is a reproduction of HS648
As a citizen of Fla. I accept the offer.[/size]

Pokeweed -- Phytolacca americana L.1

James M. Stephens2

Pokeweed is a native plant throughout eastern North America. It is a large-rooted perennial with a strong-growing top, reaching up to 10 or more feet in height. The roots and seeds are poisonous. The branches bear clusters of flowers and dark red fruits. The fruits resemble the berries of nightshade and thus pokeweed is sometimes called American nightshade. Other common names are inkberry, pigeon berry, coakun, pocan bush, scoke, garget, and poke salad.
 
Pokeweed. 

CULTURE
Pokeweed is most easily grown in a temperate climate such as that of eastern North America. The top dies down in winter. The young, asparagus-like shoots are formed in spring and can be grown from lifted roots dug in the winter. Pokeweed blooms in the warm weather from July to September.
There is little cultivation of pokeweed in the United States. It grows wild rather extensively and some is gathered from the wild. The young tender shoots are the part consumed and are used as a potherb. The roots and berries are poisonous and are used in the preparation of medicines. The older leaves may also be eaten as greens if boiled. The bitterness is removed by boiling and pouring off the cooking water.

Pokeweed grows in rich pastures, waste places, gardens, open places in woodlands, and along fence rows. It grows on deep, rich, gravelly soils, limestone, and sandy hammock soils in Florida. It is a perennial herb, reproducing by seeds or from a very large poisonous taproot.

The root when transplanted and forced in rich garden soil, will yield a plentiful supply of blanched shoots.

Pokeweed may also be grown from seeds in the following way. Gather about a pint of the purple berries, crush them, cover with water, and let ferment for a few days. The good seeds will settle to the bottom and the pulp and skins can be floated off and discarded. The seeds are then spread out to dry and then stored in a cool place. When time to plant, the seeds can be soaked in concentrated sulfuric acid to break dormancy and speed germination. After 5 minutes the solution is poured off and seeds are washed thoroughly in running water. The seeds are again dried and are then ready for planting.

The seeds should be sown early in the spring in rows 4 feet apart. The seeds should be barely covered. The seedlings are thinned to about 3 feet apart in the row.

USE
Pokeweed should be collected when the young shoots are 5-6 inches in length. Cut the shoots in the same way as asparagus, being careful not to take any part of the poisonous root or older stem.

[SwampDonkey]

And here I was thinking it was mountain holly. Interesting

http://ontarioshrubs.com/main/m/mountainholly/

[ohsoloco]

Thanks for the info., Tom    Don't think I'll be cookin' any up though 

[Tom]

Y'er just not hungry enough yet.

[Bro. Noble]

That stuff is really good.  Pick it when it first pops through the ground in the spring and you don't have to worry about poison.  Put a slice or two of bacon in a skillet along with some diced onions,  when you got a little grease cooked out,  fill the skillet with Polk shoots and put the lid on and steam it till it's wilted good.  Salt it and put vinegar on it and you got a real treat.  You can use it about any way you would spinach or mustard or collard or turnip greens,  but Polk's the best and it's the very best when wilted as above IMO   It would go good with grits,  but would be GREAT with taters

[SwampDonkey]

Sounds like grits to me Needing all that bacon grease, salt vinegar and onions, to give something that would otherwise be pretty bland, some taste.

Y'er just not hungry enough yet.

The defence rests.

[ohsoloco]

Noble is making me hungry now 

Then again, you could mix anything with bacon and onions and it would taste pretty DanG good 

Noble...are the shoots easy to spot in the spring (i.e. the same purplish color)?  All that talk about poison makes me a little hesitant, but then again I just love rhubarb stalks 

[Bro. Noble]

The shoots are easy to tell if you know what they look like    I started picking them along with lots of other kinds of wild greens with my Grandma before I was old enough to go to school.  My wife canned a whack of polk greens when we were first married.

They don't have the purple color at first  but they don't look like anything else.  They will have the thick stalk and at first the leaves will be folded and pointing up.  Maybe someone has a picture of new shoots.  Even after they get a little older (a week or so)  the new leaves are good to eat.  By the time they get berries and purple stalks,  you are way,  way too late.

[Paul_H]

Is this the same stuff Noble? Bayoubill Pokeweed

[Jeff]

ohsoloco, I recommend, if you have not tried it yet, taking a cluster of the berries, then roll them briskly between your hands. Work them around real good. This will lead you in discovering a secret Indian use for poke berries.  I had the same question a few years ago. Here is the thread with photos of the younger stages of the plant:
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=309.0