pokeweed
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈpoʊkˌwiːd/
- US
:
hierba poke
- We trudged back up the Canadian, through gallery forest and pokeweed meadows, then turned south into canyon lands cut by powder-dry alkali creeks.
- pokeweed berries
- common pokeweed
Examples
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Found throughout the South, pokeweed is traditionally the first green plant to show up each spring and is best eaten when very young and tender.
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Once we opened the thick stem of pokeweed.
Fiction book (1991) -
"Then let some of us forage in the woods for berries, pokeweed, wild onions... anything."
Fiction book (1994) -
That species, as well as green amaranth, common milkweed, and pokeweed, were used as potherbs.
Academic text (1991) -
Eliza asked, as we looked up through the pokeweed at the clouds, "Is he a face in the sky?" Yes, I answered, satisfying Eliza and myself, too.
Fiction book (1991) -
Early every spring, when pokeweed starts making an appearance, the Allen Canning Co. puts ads in local newspapers asking for it.
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Despite its attractive appearance, pokeweed is dangerous if its berries are ingested, as they are highly toxic.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A tall wild plant with white flowers and poisonous berries
A tall North American plant with white flowers whose young shoots people cook but whose berries and roots are poisonous
Compounds
- Specialized
A group of mainly tropical plants like small shrubs and herbs with flowers on long stems
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Pokeweed comes from a Native American name that became the English poke, joined with English weed meaning 'plant'. So pokeweed simply names that native 'poke' plant, a tall plant with dark purple berries that can be poisonous to people.