American pokeweed

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American pokeweed
American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

American pokeweed ( Phytolacca americana )

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Pokeweed family (Phytolaccaceae)
Subfamily : Phytolaccoideae
Genre : Pokeweed ( Phytolacca )
Type : American pokeweed
Scientific name
Phytolacca americana
L.

The American pokeweed ( Phytolacca americana ), also America pokeweed and Zehnmännige pokeweed called, is a plant of the genus of pokeweed ( Phytolacca ) within the family of Pokeweed (Phytolaccaceae). The natural range is in North America, it is a neophyte in some areas of Eurasia . In areas of southern Germany, it is on the way to spreading massively as an invasive species (as of 2013).

history

"Phytolacca" comes from "Phyto" (plant) and "Lacca" is a Latin American form of "lacquer". The fact is that the original American name "Po-Keweed" comes from the word "Pokon", which the Shawnee Indians from Virginia refer to the dye plants whose red sap is reminiscent of blood ("Pok").

The French settlers, who were in contact with the Indian Shawnee tribes from Virginia in North America, included the plant in their dye studies and herbal pharmacy and therefore later introduced it to European soil.

The Shawnees were traditionally eaten in the “poke cooked salad”. To do this, young leaves were boiled in water several times, the water having to be renewed after each boiling; fatal poisoning has been reported if this has not been done.

The root has been used internally in low amounts to treat various respiratory infections, angina, arthritis, and rheumatism. Dermatological problems such as fungal infections, acne or scabies were treated with ointments or poultices. Ultimately, the root was believed to have anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and mitogenic properties.

The plant was introduced to Europe in 1615 at the latest, as it was mentioned in the list of species of the Kew Royal Botanic Garden in England that same year. She was also mentioned by Parkinson in 1640.

Systematics

The first publication of Phytolacca americana was in 1753 by Carl von Linné .

At least two varieties have been distinguished since 1990:

  • Phytolacca americana L. var. Americana
  • Phytolacca americana var. Rigida (Small) Caulkins & REWyatt

description

Illustration from J. Theodore Descourtilz, ME Descourtilz: Flore médicale des Antilles, ou, Traité des plantes usuelles , 1827, plate 312
Section of an inflorescence with radially symmetrical flowers
Fruit heads

Vegetative characteristics

The American pokeweed is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches a height of 1 to 3 meters. Its strong and furrowed stem grows upright, the base can become lignified. The stems are often purple in color and forked. The alternate leaves are arranged in a petiole and a leaf blade. The simple leaf blade is ovate-lanceolate and dull green in color.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from July to September. More or less arching overhanging to hanging, racemose inflorescences and fruit clusters are formed. The hermaphroditic flowers are radial symmetry and usually five-fold. The five greenish to pale pink sepals are broadly ovate. Petals are missing. There are usually ten stamens available. Most of the ten carpels are fused at least up to half their length.

The unripe fruits are flattened, spherical and grooved tenfold, the ripe fruits are black-purple, spherical, smooth and uneven berries.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 36.

Ingredients and ecology

Phenols, which it also spreads in the soil via the roots , are able to prevent other species from germinating, so that a danger for the natural regeneration of forests is also seen.

Distribution and location requirements

Their natural range extends from eastern Canada to the southern United States. In Central Europe it occurs as a cultivated plant , only in southern wine-growing areas also wild. It is feral in southern Europe and in areas of Asia. In Austria, the American pokeweed occurs scattered and locally naturalized in southern Styria . In Vienna , Lower Austria , Burgenland , Carinthia , Salzburg and North Tyrol , only rare and inconsistent occurrences are known.

The American pokeweed is a heat-loving, not very frost-hardy, but otherwise undemanding plant that thrives in direct sun and partial shade. The latest scientific findings, such as B. Resistance to contaminated soil / environmental pollution, pyrophilic, antiviral and antifungal properties suggest a high invasive potential.

use

According to various sources, this plant must be described as highly poisonous

Raw or not fully cooked plant parts are poisonous because they contain saponins and poisonous lectins, which are highly irritating to the mucous membranes . Consumption leads to vomiting, bloody diarrhea, dizziness and a drop in blood pressure. In severe cases, convulsions occur, which can lead to death from respiratory paralysis.

However, the berries were previously used in France, Spain and Portugal to color red wine. The red fruit juice was used to dye sugar colors, as a not very lightfast textile dye and as a less permanent ink. The pigment betacyan is similar to that of beetroot . Boiled young saplings and leaves used to be eaten in a similar way to asparagus and spinach, and boiled fruit was used as a kitchen ingredient. Soap can be obtained from the rootstock. In North America, Phytolacca americana was also used as an emetic and laxative. It was used against rheumatism , other autoimmune diseases , glandular swellings, ulcers , bronchitis and cancer. The dried roots and berries have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, expectorant and narcotic effects. The application in the area of ​​antiviral therapy for flu, polio and HIV infection is being researched (as of 2000). In homeopathy , it is used as a remedy for tonsillitis and joint inflammation and for flu-like infections.

literature

  • Klaus Becker, Stefan John: Color atlas useful plants in Central Europe . Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8001-4134-5 . P. 88
  • Manfred A. Fischer, Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 3rd, improved edition. Province of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 367-368 .
  • Y. Dumas: Que savons-nous du Raisin d'Amérique (Phytolacca americana), espèce exotique envahissante? Synthèse bibliographique . In: Rendez-vous techniques ONF . No. 33–34 , 2011, pp. 48–57 (French, archives-ouvertes.fr ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German name after Klaus Becker, Stefan John: Color atlas useful plants in Central Europe . Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8001-4134-5 . P. 88
  2. ^ A b German names according to Fischer, Oswald, Adler: Exkursionsflora für Österreich, Liechtenstein and Südtirol , p. 368
  3. ↑ a b Deutschlandfunk, broadcast research on October 11, 2013, 4:40 pm, contribution to pokeweed.
  4. ↑ L. Mitich: The Intriguing World of Weeds - Common Pokeweed. In: Weed Technology. 8, 1994, pp. 887-890.
  5. ^ "Hortus Kewensis; Or, A Catalog of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Garden of Kew" by Jonas Dryander, Robert Brown, and William Townsend Aiton, 1789
  6. ↑ John Parkinson : Theatrum Botanicum . 1640.
  7. ↑ a b c Mark A. Nienaber, John W. Thieret: Phytolacca americana In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 4: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 1. Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 2003. ISBN 0-19-517389-9 , p. 3 ( efloras.org text identical to the printed work).
  8. ^ A b c d Manfred A. Fischer, Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 3rd, improved edition. Province of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 367-368 .
  9. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas. 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 355.
  10. ↑ Phytolacca americana in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  11. ↑ Dequan Lu, Kai Larsen: Phytolacca americana In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven (Ed.): Flora of China. Volume 9: Pittosporaceae through Connaraceae Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 2003, ISBN 1-930723-14-8 , p. 436 ( efloras.org - same text as the printed work).
  12. ↑ a b c Klaus Becker, Stefan John: Color atlas useful plants in Central Europe . Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8001-4134-5 . P. 88
  13. ↑ in et al. 2006; Peng, 2008; Kim et al. 2005
  14. ↑ Glasgow et al., 2007
  15. ↑ Mitich, 1984
  16. ↑ Y. Dumas: Que savons-nous du Raisin d'Amérique (pokeweed), exotique espèce envahissante? Synthèse bibliographique . In: Rendez-vous techniques ONF . No. 33–34 , 2011, pp. 48–57 (French, archives-ouvertes.fr ).
  17. ^ Jacob L. Heller, MD, MHA, Emergency Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, "Pokeweed poisoning," 2013. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the ADAM Editorial team.
  18. ↑ pokeweed poisoning: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. Accessed July 7, 2019 .
  19. ↑ A scientific study conducted in Oklahoma in 1962 concluded that the lethal oral dose of fresh pocket berries appeared to be "about 300 gm / kg body weight in mice and about 100 gm / kg body weight in the dry berries" and that the "liquid extract of pocket berries was about 80 times as toxic when injected intraperitoneally as when administered orally". See Ogzewalla, Mossberg, Beck, Farrington (1962): Studies on the Toxicity of Poke Berries (PDF). Procedure of okla. Acad. Of Science: 54-57. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

Web links

Commons : American pokeweed ( Phytolacca americana )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files