- Region
- North America
- Origin
- Eastern North America; naturalised in Europe and Asia. Phytolacca americana
North America · Herb · № 155
Phytolacca americana
Herb · North America
Pokeweed
Phytolacca americana
Formerly used for swollen glands, tonsillitis and rheumatism. Because of its toxicity it is not a safe herb; there is no evidence of benefits that outweigh the risks.
Safety notes
All parts, especially root and berries, are poisonous and can cause severe vomiting, diarrhoea, breathing problems and death. Dangerous for children. Do not self-medicate.
Cautions by tradition (4)
- Herbal medicine worldwide: All fresh parts poisonous, never exceed the dose. Poisonous or risky: only under expert supervision. No dosage is given here on purpose.
- Chinese materia medica: Toxic: only with excess and under expert supervision; not during pregnancy. The fresh root causes gastrointestinal complaints.
- Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) medicine: Root, seeds and leaves are poisonous: not internally.
- Cherokee (Tsalagi) medicine: Root, berries and old leaves are poisonous; do not take them.
Preparation
Was formerly used as a tiny amount of tincture or externally; not advisable for home use. No dosage is given here.
Use in traditions
Indigenous peoples used the plant as medicine and the berries as dye. In the southern USA young shoots are still eaten as 'poke salad' after repeated boiling. Ody warns emphatically about its toxicity.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Herbal medicine worldwide
Attributed effects
Antirheumatic, stimulating, anticatarrhal, purgative, emetic, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, stimulates the immune and lymphatic systems.
Preparation and amount
Traditionally used forms: tincture, powder, compress (partly external).
Caution: All fresh parts poisonous, never exceed the dose. Poisonous or risky: only under expert supervision. No dosage is given here on purpose.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- bitter, cold
- Meridians
- spleen, kidney, lung, bladder
Attributed effects
The Chinese species (shang lu, Phytolacca acinosa), like American pokeweed, is used to drain fluid in oedema with scanty urination and constipation, and to shrink swellings, growths and ulcers from damp heat (fresh also externally).
Preparation and amount
Deliberately no dosage is given here: only under the supervision of a qualified therapist. In Chinese preparation the root is roasted with vinegar to reduce its toxicity.
Caution: Toxic: only with excess and under expert supervision; not during pregnancy. The fresh root causes gastrointestinal complaints.
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) medicine
Attributed effects
For bruises, sprains, swollen joints and lumps on the skin.
Preparation and amount
The boiled root as a poultice; the berries as a dye for baskets.
Caution: Root, seeds and leaves are poisonous: not internally.
Cherokee (Tsalagi) medicine
Attributed effects
The young leaves, well boiled, as a spring green to build the blood; root and berries for rheumatism, the root in a salve and as a powder on old sores; the berries coloured canned fruit.
Preparation and amount
Do not prepare it yourself.
Caution: Root, berries and old leaves are poisonous; do not take them.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- TinctureCompress, poultice and pasteSyrup, honey and oxymelPowder and kitchen
Tags
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org
- Michael & Lesley Tierra, Chinese Traditional Herbal Medicine, vol. II: Materia Medica and Herbal Resource (1998)
- Penelope Ody, The Complete Medicinal Herbal (1993; 2017)
- James W. Herrick, Iroquois Medical Botany, ed. Dean R. Snow (1995)
- Paul B. Hamel & Mary U. Chiltoskey, Cherokee Plants and Their Uses: A 400 Year History (1975)