Phytolacca americana var. americana

Pokeweed, Pokeweed

Family: Phytolaccaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Pokeweed is a naturalized perennial found in California's Central Valley and Foothills in disturbed areas and roadsides at elevations generally below 1,000 meters. Flowering from summer to fall, this plant produces white to pink flowers in spreading or drooping racemes up to 30 centimeters long. Growing to an impressive 3 to 7 meters tall with multiple stems, it develops a robust and sprawling habit. Its large leaves are lanceolate to ovate, measuring 8 to 35 centimeters long and 3 to 18 centimeters wide, with petioles 1 to 6 centimeters in length. The plant produces distinctive purple-black fruits 6 to 11 millimeters in diameter, which contain shiny black, lenticular seeds.

Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed areas, roadsides

Bloom period: Summer-fall

Elevation: generally < 1000 m

Bioregions: CA-FP

California counties: Los Angeles, Sonoma, Butte, Tehama, Ventura, San Diego, Placer, Mendocino, Riverside, Sacramento, Shasta, Solano

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.