American Pokeweed

Description:

A specimen of the American pokeweed, a herbaceous perennial plant. The full plant was huge (about 8 feet), but it was located in a deeply wooded area (in a search for songbirds) and was difficult to photograph with the thick underbrush and whatnot. As you can see, the berries are few and far between, as they have probably been eaten by said songbirds (Northern Mockingbirds and Northern Cardinals are two that come to mind native to Kansas).

Habitat:

The American Pokeweed is native to the Eastern US, into the Midwest (where I am), the Gulf Coast and sparsely out West.

Notes:

This plant is highly toxic, and increases its toxicity as the year goes on. Every part of this plant is toxic and there have been arguments to eradicate it. It can kill you, and if that occurs it's because of paralysis of the respitory organs. So have fun with that. However, it does have medicinal properties and is popular in horticulture, for some reason.