Pokeweed: an herb for all things pokey.
Now that I’m living on my home ground again, I’ve been feeling like writing about some real traditional Appalachian herbs. So for July’s berry-themed blog party, I chose a classic of Appalachian herbalism: pokeberry (Phytolacca americana).
A while back on the Herbwifery Forum, a few of us were reminiscing about growing up in West Virginia and North Carolina. From our informal survey, it seems like covering oneself in pokeberry juice and running around like a little demon is an essential part of an Appalachian childhood. And it’s no wonder. Pokeweed is everywhere in Southern Appalachia, and the ripe berries hang in shiny, inky purple-black clusters. Squish them in your hands, and they turn bright pink. What could be more fun?
Of course, we all knew that pokeberries were “poison,” so we didn’t eat them. (Unless someone said “I dare you,” that is. And even then we’d spit them right out again. I never knew anyone to get sick on them.)
The truth is, poke is strong stuff. It can be toxic even in moderate doses. Some herbalists stick to diluted homeopathic preparations of the plant, just to be on the safe side. But I prefer the old-fashioned way: drops of the tincture, spoonfuls of the decoction, sips of the wine, or a berry at a time. (Fresh plant only. Poke doesn’t take well to drying.)
So you might be asking, like my ten-year-old niece always does, “What’s it for?” Well, poke is for all things, um, pokey. Poke gets things moving in the body, especially the lymphatic system, the joints, and the metabolism. In other words, it’s an “alterative.” Used externally, it kills things (scabies, ringworm, etc.).
The most common indications for pokeberries in old-time Appalachian herbalism were “rheumatism” and “bad blood.” These days I’d call those “chronic joint pain” and “lymphatic sluggishness.” The usual prescription was to eat one berry a day for a week (without chewing the seeds), stop for a week, and repeat. Three berries, three times a week was another classic dose.
This tradition of on-and-off dosing is interesting. Perhaps poke inspires a reaction in the body—maybe in the immune system—that is triggered only by withdrawal of the dosage? Poke is often called an “immune stimulant,” but I imagine it’s more complicated than that. I often wonder about poke’s effects on autoimmune conditions, since many of the conditions associated with the symptoms of “rheumatism” turn out to have links to autoimmunity.
Modern herbalists sometimes use pokeberries to help stimulate an underactive thyroid, and old texts often mention goiter and obesity as important indications for the plant. It’s possible that poke acts directly on the thyroid, or indirectly on the metabolism through its general stimulation of “movement” in the body.
Poke’s movement-stimulating properties, combined with its affinities for the lymphatic system and “glands,” have led to its traditional use for many conditions involving hard, swollen masses in the body, including simple swollen lymph nodes, mumps, tonsillitis, adenitis, orchitis, mastitis, goiter, and cancer.
In my experience, poke root is one of the best things out there for inflammations of the breast, including mastitis. Fresh root poultices are traditional (though they can cause skin irritation), but tincture of the fresh root or a plaster of fresh berries will work, too, along with drop doses of the tincture internally. (Poke is contraindicated during pregnancy, but okay for nursing moms—in small doses, of course.)
One of poke’s many folk names is “cancer root,” and (like many other lymphatic herbs) it has a reputation as an old-time cancer remedy—especially for breast and skin cancers. It’s interesting that the old authors are split on its effectiveness. I’ve noticed that those who recommend poke for cancer support tend to emphasize using the fresh plant, rather than dried. This fits with what I’ve been taught. Always use fresh poke.
Whiskey tincture of the fresh root and fresh berry wine are the traditional Appalachian ways to preserve the plant for internal use. Traditional preparations of poke for external use often involved extraction in kerosene. This is one tradition I don’t follow. Poke-infused olive oil works just fine, thanks.
My favorite saying about poke comes from Tommie Bass. Talking about the old-time use of poke whiskey as a tonic, he said “It just straightened you out.”
An herbalist’s cheat-sheet for poke:
Parts used: fresh root, fresh berries (young shoots and leaves are also a “spring tonic” food, boiled in two changes of water).
Actions: alterative, lymphatic, antifungal, possible thyroid stimulant.
Affinities: lymph, breasts, testes, skin, joints.
Taste: acrid, slightly sweet, root slightly bitter.
Vitalist energetics: root slightly cooling and drying; berries slightly warming.
Michael Moore energetics (highlights): lymphatic, immune, skin/mucosa, hepatic, parasympathetic stimulant; cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, CNS sedative; berries for thyroid depression, root for adrenalin stress.
Tongue indications: swollen, with a white coating; sometimes foamy saliva (Michael Moore).
Specific indications: Hard, swollen lymph nodes. “Hurts to stick out tongue” (Matthew Wood).
Homeopathic mental indications: “Loss of personal delicacy, disregard of surrounding objects. Indifferent to life” (Boericke).
Have fun “poking” around!
PS: I’m going to post this month’s blog party on August 2nd—mainly because that’s the day we get real internet access at our new house, but also because it gives busy-in-the-summer folks an extra day to make a blog party post!
The Herbwife’s Kitchen » Blog Party: Berries! said,
August 30, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
[…] wrote about Pokeberry, one of the classic Appalachian […]
David Pleshe said,
October 17, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
I was introduced to the Poke Berry just last week while visiting a relative in Kentucky. He’s been eating the fresh ripee berries daily—about three a day. He just swallows them and claims that it has help his arthritis.
He offered me some and I actually did what most blogs say you shouldn’t do—crunch the seeds. I haven’t had any ill effects from doing it that one time; however I now realize that that was not a good idea according to most reports I have read on the subject. I take three whole berries a day swalling them whole and have had no ill effects. Seems to help sore joints.
THERESA said,
March 11, 2008 @ 6:07 pm
A little while back I saw a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a magazine that included a berry called “rosy-stemmed caribbean varga” berry. when looking this up online, I couldn’t find such a thing… hence the search for a “pink stemmed berry” and this is what I found, the POKEBERRY seems to be what I was looking for
I am getting married and would like to just use it in a bouquet like the magazine, but I don’t know who or where to buy it from fresh in it’s natural state.
can you help?
crabappleherbs said,
March 11, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
Hmmmm.
I don’t know if any florists carry pokeberries — you could ask around. If you’re getting married in the right season (August - September), you could probably find some wild ones, depending on where you live.
Good luck!
darci said,
April 3, 2008 @ 7:43 am
At one time in history tomatoes were considered extremely poisonous. I’m always amused (and irritated) when I see where people treat Poke as if it were something lethal. I’ve lived in the South all my life, and every spring I hunt Poke, boil the leaves (once) and eat them. It’s like my spring tonic. I don’t want it more than once or twice a year, but my mother freezes it and eats it all year long.
There’s a famous herbalist, has a magazine, a forum and everything, to whom I told this, and she responded as if my family and I belonged to some illiterate, mutant enclave, probably living in the backwoods, eating poke and selling moonshine, and that over the decades we had built up a resistance to the poisons within the plant……….not quite. I have 3 college degrees, have taught and counseled in public school and college, and am a digital artist and freelance writer. I won’t say more because Darci isn’t my name, and some would know me if I told what all I’ve done. Anyway, I’m not an illiterate mutant, and I did just want to say that I’ll be glad when “herbalists” stop treating the plant and those who eat it with condescension and fear. My grandmother was a true herbalist and could walk through the woods and pick a whole salad from the wild plants growing there. I’m not as good as she, but I take after her herbal ways.
crabappleherbs said,
April 3, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
Hi “Darci.”
Yes, I get irritated about that too. This post was about the berries, though, not the leaves. I eat the young leaves whenever I can get my hands on them. (Soon it will be the season!)
(It sounds like the herbalist you talked to had a serious case of anti-Appalachian prejudice. It’s way too common, as I’m sure you know.)
Susan Marynowski said,
April 25, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
I’ve been trying to find out if it is OK to make a poke berry tincture. Didn’t get much response on the herb discussion list. What do you think? I was mainly wondering if it was necessary or advisable to remove the seeds before tincturing, as the alcohol would surely extract those alkaloids. I am NOT poke-phobic…just want to make the best preparation to get the benefit of the berries year round! Do folks traditionally remove the seeds when making wine or jelly?
TIA, Susan in Florida (April 2008…my poke is 6 feet tall already!)
crabappleherbs said,
May 4, 2008 @ 5:56 pm
Hi Susan.
I’ve never tinctured the berries — just the root. I generally use the berries fresh or make wine. Pokeberry wine is usually fermented with the seeds for a while and then strained off. I know some traditional herbalists who soak the berries in wine instead of making wine with them — and they don’t remove the seeds. Wine, of course, is a much weaker solvent than straight ethanol.
I’m not sure about the actual sources for the warnings about the seeds — I’ve always been told not to chew them, but other than that I don’t really have any good information.
Have you found any useful information since you posted here?
Susan said,
May 6, 2008 @ 11:56 am
I haven’t gotten any more information, except that most people don’t bother removing the seeds when they are making jam or wine, as you say. I also read that some folks just dry the berries and then swallow one or two berries whole for arthritic complaints (in the winter, for example, when fresh berries are not available). Maybe drying the berries is the most natural solution to having them year round. Thanks for your reply! -Florida Susan
crabappleherbs said,
May 6, 2008 @ 10:39 pm
Thanks for posting, Susan.
Drying the berries is indeed an option, though I imagine you’d need to do it in a dehydrator or the oven — the dang things are really juicy.
MARY said,
May 11, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
Being an Alaskan, I can’t really say I know much of anything about Poke Weed, though I do remember my mother talking a bit about it (she is from Missouri). Trying to live with arthritis pain makes me ever on the look out for relief. Where would I find acceptable Poke Weed? I am now living in Washington State for the summer.
crabappleherbs said,
May 16, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
Hi Mary.
I think poke grows in Washington state. If you want to find it, watch for the dark purple berries late in the summer — see if you can find a local herbalist to help you identify it.