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§1 Plant

Phytolacca americana L.

vernacular American pokeweed — species · Phytolaccaceae

USDA
PHAM4
GBIF
3084015
Rank
species
American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)
Platephotograph · Craig K. HuntCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Phytolaccaceae R. Br.
Genus
Phytolacca
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,450 counties across 36 states/territories
Legend Native · 1450 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
30–65 in/yr
pH range
4.7–8
Root depth
16 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
7.3 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Black
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Summer
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
58,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,450 counties across 36 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 67 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 2 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 59 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 40 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 89 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 79 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 67 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 70 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 63 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Maryland view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 32 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 58 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 112 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 8 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 6 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 19 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 1 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 46 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 92 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 88 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 31 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 64 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 45 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 52 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 49 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 99 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 48 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 9 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PHAM4 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3084015 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z