Skip to main content

PLEASE NOTE:
"Poisonous" does not mean deadly. Some manifestations of toxicity are subtle. The dose, as always, determines if a plant is safe source of nutrients or a toxic hazard.

Frequently (and not so frequently) Asked Questions

Simple keyword search (one or two words only)

 


BRIEF: Could you give me some information on California Pokeweed?


QUESTION:
We have found in our garden a plant of which we believe is called California Pokeweed. Another name it has is Thorn Apple. I cannot find any information on the plant.

ANSWER:

I am from California and I am familiar with a poisonous East Coast plant known as pokeweed, which grows as an exotic weed in California, but I don't know of anything called California Pokeweed. Pokeweed leaves or shoots are sometimes boiled and drained a couple of times and safely eaten, but otherwise it is quite poisonous and has killed both children and adults with its array of irritants, mitogens, alkaloids, sapponins and other toxins. Nasty stuff. Thorn apple is also given to several members of the and datura...all very poisonous, too.