POKE
Phytolacca americana
COMMON NAMES: Pigeon berry, garget, scoke, coakum, inkberry, pocan.
FEATURES: Poke, a strong-smelling perennial herb of the family Phytolaccaceae. Poke is native to the
United States from Maine to Florida and westward to Minnesota and Texas. Found in dry fields, hillsides,
and roadsides. The root matures to a very large size; it is easily cut or broken; the fleshly fibrous tissue is
covered with a thin brownish bark. The stems are annual, about 1 inch in diameter, round, smooth, green
when young, and grow 3–12 feet in height. The small greenish white flowers appear in July and August,
surrounded by dense foliage, followed by dark purple berries that ripen in late summer and autumn and
are nearly globular, each containing ten carpels. The berries are only collected when fully matured. The
young shoots and seedlings are often eaten; the former like asparagus, the latter like spinach. Make sure
the root is scrupulously removed before using as a table vegetable. Phytolaccin is its active principle.
Poke has had a long history of usefulness in medicine; it is toxic in too large amounts, and persons using it
should understand both its value and its limitations.
MEDICINAL PARTS: Root, berries.
SOLVENTS: Dilute alcohol, boiling water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Emetic, cathartic, alterative, deobstruent.
USES: Preparation and dosage vary considerably with the condition of the root. Thurston, Hammer, and
other physiomedical practitioners recommended that only the green root be used, owing to its rapid
deterioration. Poke helps greatly in detoxifying the system from poisonous congestions. It stimulates
metabolism and is useful for medication of the undernourished. Poke has creditable influence when the
lymphatic glands, spleen, and particularly the thyroid glands are enlarged (excellent in goiter, internally
and externally), and on hardening of the liver and reduced biliary flow. The root excites the whole
glandular system and is very useful in the removal of mercurio-syphilitic affection, scrofula, and chronic
skin diseases.
Very few, if any, of the alteratives have superior power to poke if properly gathered and prepared for
medicinal uses. Both the berries and root have high recognition for the treatment of rheumatism and
arthritis, especially when used with black cohosh (Cimicifuga) and prickly ash (Xanthoxylum
americanum). Poke is indicated, and should be combined in formulas, for throat conditions when
membrane dark in color, tonsils swollen, shooting pains through the ear with difficulty in swallowing.
CAUTION: Toxic in large amounts.
DOSE: Tincture of Phytolacca alone, 2–5 drops, as frequently as indicated by symptoms. As a decoction,
1 tablespoonful of the root, leaves, or berries, cut small, to 1 pint of boiling water, steeped 10 minutes.
Take a mouthful at a time several times a day. The juice of the ripe berries preserved in syrup may be
used in teaspoonful doses every 3 hours.
EXTERNALLY: Drs. Wood and Ruddock in Vitalogy (1925): “The juice of the berries dried in the sun until
it forms the proper consistency for a plaster, applied twice a day has cured cancer.” It is a dependable
agent in the treatment of mammillary swelling, from which so many women suffer following childbirth,
making nursing impossible. In such cases a mixture of 3 parts Phytolacca, to 1 part of glycerine will