May I present everyone's favorite "significantly toxic" landscape plant, Phytolacca decandra, aka Pokeweed!
On my morning walk yesterday this beautiful landscape plant had taken over the "wildflowers, do not mow" area along the trail. I had never seen it before and when I researched it I learned it is toxic to humans but does not affect birds, they love it. When the plant is young, before the red creeps into the stems, the leaves are harvested and boiled or sautéed in many culture's cuisines. Evidently the key to keep from poisoning yourself and your loved ones is if there is any red in the plant, it's too late to harvest. Of course I had to wonder if a child was on the trail and wanted to try the "berries", what a problem that could be!
I was into weaving and natural dyes in my high school days and this berry was a favorite for dye making. Lots a beautiful colors from it depending on what you used to prepare the wool for dyeing. And yes, I did know it was not for human consumption!
@olivetreeann Love your comment about using it for dyeing! Evidently Pokeweed is very invasive, it spreads like wildfire, and will take over a space quickly. So your high school teacher must have kept a plot for her students. That is very cool!
@olivetreeann Love your comment about using it for dyeing! Evidently Pokeweed is very invasive, it spreads like wildfire, and will take over a space quickly. So your high school teacher must have kept a plot for her students. That is very cool!