The first is pokeweed, Phytolacca americana. Not sure exactly how "cool" it is.......most consider it more of a weed (and a rather toxic one to boot) than a desirable ornamental :-)

I feel like I should know #2, but can't put my finger on it at the moment.

It looks like you're right on #1. It was certainly ornamental to me -- I loved the pink-red stems. And it was a large herbaceous plant, which is something that almost always catches my eye. I guess that just goes to prove the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". ;)

As for being a "weed", I've certainly never seen it before, or at least if I have, it hasn't been often (and I've travelled a fair amount to various gardens in the NE), so it can't be that "noxious" (e.g. like Purple Loosestrife). It sounds like more of a pest to farmers due to some of its toxicological properties.

Is pokeweed what they make poke sallet from? :) If that's it, it is toxic, but I think what you do with poke sallet is boil it, pour off the water, boil it again, then it's OK to eat. I haven't had it since I was a little girl, when my friend's mom made it for us with scrambled eggs.

Oh my goodness - are they actually selling pokeweed at a nursery?!! I can't believe it, lol! Gee, if you really want some, come on down and you can have all you want! I'm sick of trying to get rid of it!

I will admit it IS pretty in its way, but it just gets too big, too out-of-control, and spreads too much for my taste. And I guess when you are raised thinking certain things are weeds, that's just always how you think of them.

Connie, I think it may be one and the same - my friend from Kentucky always refers to it as poke salad, not pokeweed. And I did always think she was saying "salad", but I guess I was wrong about that? With things like that, I always wonder who was the first one to try to eat it? Or in this case, after presumably knowing it was toxic, who was the first one brave enough to try it after the second boiling, lol (when presumably the first boiling didn't work, lol!)?

:)
Dee

omg! I have pokeweed that grows i swear 6 inches a day! I almost give up trying to get rid of it! It grows next to our house, looks like its trying to peer through our windows. It is crazy!!!! You want some? Lol

LOL, it's Poke salad!! I guess it's true that one man's trash is another man's treasure. This is a bigtime weed down South. Most people would shoot you for giving this to them. Some older people still eat the stuff. Yuck, a thousand times over. It contains some alkaloids that are highly toxic to humans but the process of boiling it in water a few times while disposing of the water each time extracts out the dangerous compounds. I'm sure quite a few people would give you this plant for free.

Oh my word, you found that pain the rear, weed for sale. Honey come to Kansas City and you get as much as you want for free. I've lost count on the times I've been at a friend house to help cut the beast down and the seeds just stain like crazy.

LOL! Well, he wasn't actually selling it, he just had one in the garden.

Any ideas on plant #2?

its terribly toxic.. all parts of it .... including the two foot tuber ...

cut it to the ground.. and apply 100% roundup or brush killer to what is left ... you will NEVER dig it out ...

just because you never saw it before does NOT mean it is NOT invasive .... EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE SEEDS IS VIABLE ... and not only will you have 100's of them in your yard for decades to come... the birds will spread the rest of them as far as they can fly ....

i left one once.. and a decade later.. i am still trying to get rid of them .. PLEASE DESTROY IT ...

both plants look the same to me.... the berries are just ripe on one of them ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I am not sure what are you asking- plant 1 and 2 is the same plant- poke weed. Actually phytolacca comes in several different forms including variegated Silbesrstein which is easy to grow from seed but is poor weak grower for me. There is phytolacca americana, phytolacca acinosa and ma sure something else...

Thanks Ken. I'm 99% certain they are two different plants, although #2 could be another Phytolacca species.

My guess is Phytolacca esculenta on #2; Phytolacca americana on #1.

Thanks everyone.

If the 2nd plant is a separate species of Phytolacca, maybe it is less agressive? Which would be nice, I think Pokeweed is an attractive plant and the birds LOVE the berries. I've observed Robins, Catbirds, Finches, Cedar Waxwing, and Bluebirds eating them in my yard.

Except when you've got about 3,000 of them. It is one of the few North American natives that I'm battling in my yard - it's as aggressive as the invasive plants, and I've got a lot of those too!

Apparently the current name for P. esculenta is P. acinosa.

I am in the process of making a batch of ink / dye from a batch of berries and I have tons of seeds, if anyone wants any. These seeds should be about 40% viable. The seeds need to pass through the digestive tract of a bird or be soaked in sulfuric acid for a short time to break the dormancy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Poke Sallet on Mother Earth News

I know it's a weed but the red stems and beautifully colored berries do make it attractive.

Our Cardinals eat the berries and spread the seed all over from number of seedlings I pull out. I hear the "chip-chip" of the Cardinal and see the whole bush richochet when they pluck off a berry.

Berry color is not appreciated on cars via bird distribution network...LOL.

Didn't have any idea what it was 3 years ago when it first appeared at top of driveway. Since I'd been over zealous in hacking out Chinese Wisteria thinking something else would grow there (it won't) I thought it would at least fill the huge hole I left in a very visible spot.

Two clumps spread and spread and spread.

Didn't find out what it was until year #2 when people here on GW said they were looking for the variegated variety and making sure they didn't have them close to straight green giants or risk losing variegation.

Figured it was a worthwhile "specimen to naturalize" if people were buying it.

Since I've let them be for 3-4 years I couldn't get them out if I wanted to because they've grown right into the ungodly matrix of underground Chinese Wisteria runners as big around as my arm.

I just pull them down after killing frost in Fall and figure the garlic mustard and Chinese Wisteria cause many more problems and are impossible to eradicate since those two are all over the area no matter how much I pull & chop on my father's property.

coolplantsguy, the photo of those berries is beautiful!

The deer eat the plants but they haven't shown any "ill effects" at all. ): Must not like fruit...just poke salad, hold the dressing.