Here is the budding flowery part.

Here is the base of the same plant. The texture is waxy/rubbery almost very dense. Leaves are smooth. The stumps at the bottom are not part of it, it just grew next to them.

Pokeweed, (Phytolacca americana.) A native indeed but not well-behaved enough for most gardeners to keep it.

Hard to dig out the huge, long root but boiling water will kill it after you cut off the top part, should you choose to be rid of it.

It is herbaceous, meaning it dies down to the ground in winter so it won't grow bigger in following years than it already is. They are a cool looking plant if you have the right space for it.

FataMorgana

I was told it was great food for birds flying south for the winter, so I leave one each year. Have to admit it overpowers the other things near it!

Almost everyone who wants their plant ID'd likes it. Amazing the power of being told it's a weed. If you keep it and have kids, make sure to tell them not to play with the berries and definitely don't eat them.

I don't have poke that grows at my place but I do have lots of Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara). I remove it from gardens, but I didn't go nuts (as many do) when my kids were tiny trying to nuke it and "protect them" from it. It provided a good teaching tool for berries that look edible but are not. I made sure they knew exactly what it looked like - just seeing it helped reinforce plant safety lessons. Poke can also provide that same learning and teaching experience.

FataMorgana