Pokeweed You're Such A Tease!

Every year this giant pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) sprouts up next to our sidewalk, the seed presumably deposited there long ago by a wandering bird. It's an impressive plant, albeit a dangerous one. Pokeweeds grow up to 12 ft. tall with large broad leaves and the stems are often pink or red. The flowers are greenish-white, born in long drooping clusters at the ends of the stems which develop into beautiful dark purple berries.

Since pioneer times pokeweed, also known as inkberry or poke salat, has been used as a folk remedy to treat many ailments. Internal uses include tonsilitis, swollen glands, arthritis and weight loss. Topical treatments have been used for acne, inflammations and rashes. Modern day researchers are investigating phytolacca's use in treating AIDS and cancer patients and the preliminary results are promising.

All parts of pokeweed are toxic except the above ground leaves sprouting in the early spring. The poisonous principles are found in highest concentrations in the roots, less in the mature leaves and stems, and least in the fruits. Young leaves, if collected before acquiring a red color, are edible if boiled for 5 minutes, rinsed, reboiled in fresh water, rinsed again, and then all of the water discarded. Extreme caution should be taken because pokeweed is considered dangerous and possibly even deadly if not handled properly. The berries are toxic when raw but edible when cooked.

The berries yield a beautiful red ink or dye. In fact, the Declaration of Independence was written in fermented pokeberry juice, hence the common name inkberry. Many letters written home during the American Civil War were also written with the abundant pokeberry ink, the rich red color long ago fading to brown.

The cultural importance of pokeweed can be found in the 1969 hit song Polk Salad Annie... the gators got your granny...chomp...chomp, chomp.  (I promise that's a real song....really... it is!)  If I get brave, I might chomp down on this "health food" type recipe next spring. Although I don't eat it often, bacon can make almost anything taste fabulous, right?  The young poke shoots are highly nutritious and many old timers swear by them.

We tried writing with poke berry juice way back when I was a cub scout leader, so I know that works pretty well. So today I threw 12 ripe berries into an ounce of lye water to see if poke berries might be a good natural colorant for cold process soap. Soon as I smashed them up and they released their juice the water instantly turned a greenish yellow. This would probably yield a soft yellow green soap, but not the stunning dark purple I was hoping for, so don't think I'll even bother.

Pokeweed, you're such a tease!  While useful for many things, soapmaking doesn't appear to be one of them.  What do you think?