“Poke salad Annie, Gator's got your granny!”

I was going to post something else, http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/sighting_details/1062476
but then one of my plant photos was ID’ed by my botanist-friend as “Phytolacca americana — Poke salad Annie, Gator's got your grannie!”

The reference is to “poke sallet” and Tony Joe White's 1969 swamp rock hit "Polk Salad Annie." White — born July 23, 1943, Oak Grove, Louisiana, United States — is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for that song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCSsVvlj6YA

The plant, however, is quite interesting! It's native to the U.S. and flowers May-to-October. From Missouri Plants, http://www.missouriplants.com/Whitealt/Phytolacca_americana_page.html » “All parts of this weedy species are toxic when mature but the young shoots and leaves can be eaten when cooked. … The 'ink' from the berries will stain almost anything it touches.

“This is an easy species to ID in the field because of its big, alternate leaves, reddish stems, long inflorescences, and purple berries.”

Species page at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Phytolacca_americana&rank=binomial

1 year ago (“Carpenter-mimic Leaf-cutter Bee”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-08-10
2 years ago (“Ladder Toss”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-08-10
3 years ago (“‘Dorsal’ view: Gotcha!”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-08-10
4 years ago (“Photo treasures”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-08-10

[ IMG_4246S9x12tm :: f/5 :: 1/200" :: ISO-200 :: 131mm ]