Sunday, June 14, 2020

Looks Somthin' Like a Turnip Green

It's spring in the northeastern United States, so that means that the pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is coming up. As I've noted in previous posts, pokeweed is poisonous to mammals, though birds go nuts for the berries, which accounts for the plant's ubiquity throughout the continent, as seeds pass unscathed through the digestive tracts of these efficient dispersal agents. Consequently, we have the plants all over the place.


The late, great Tony Joe White described the plant: "Looks somethin' like a turnip green." While the mature plants are immediately recognizable due to their jet black berries, by which I mean jet black berries, the smaller plants are more nondescript, though a studied eye can recognize them by their particular green hue:




Pokeweed is delicious, once boiled thrice, in changes of water, but there are lingering toxins. The stuff tends to 'clean you out'. I don't have any plans for tomorrow, though, so I think tomorrow might be a poke sallet day.
at

5 comments:

  1. Anathema DeviceJune 14, 2020 at 11:28 PM

    "If taken internally, pokeweed is a slow acting but a violent emetic. Vomiting usually starts about 2 hours after the plant or parts of it have been eaten. Severe cases of poisoning result in purging, spasms, and sometimes convulsions. If death occurs, it is usually due to paralysis of the respiratory organs. Cases of animal or human poisoning should be handled by a veterinarian or a physician."

    You *sure* you want to 'clean yourself out' to this extent, BBBB?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Big Bad Bald BastardJune 15, 2020 at 2:05 AM

    If you boil it in three changes of water, it's detoxed enough so that it won't harm you. I have eaten the stuff without harm. Even the ubiquitous kidney bean is toxic if you don't cook it properly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 15, 2020 at 6:39 AM

    Hope your momma don't end up a-workin' on a chain gang! Enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. mikeyJune 15, 2020 at 12:57 PM

    Meh.

    Think I'll just stick to spinach....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Big Bad Bald BastardJune 15, 2020 at 5:49 PM

    Hope your momma don't end up a-workin' on a chain gang! Enjoy.

    She's not wretched or spiteful, but she IS a straight-razor totin' woman.

    Think I'll just stick to spinach....

    Even spinach is packed with oxylates. My motto is to eat a wide variety of stuff.

    ReplyDelete