pokeweed

English

Etymology

poke +‎ weed. The first element is from Powhatan pocan.[1][2]

Noun

pokeweed (countable and uncountable, plural pokeweeds)

  1. A poisonous North American plant, Phytolacca americana, with reddish stems, broad leaves, clusters of white flowers, and dark purple berries.
    • 2009, Herbert C. Covey, Dwight Eisnach, What the Slaves Ate, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 87:
      Native Americans introduced whites and slaves to several edible greens including marigold, milkweed, and pokeweed (Whit 2007). Slaves boiled pokeweed and often mixed it with turnip greens because it was thought that the two vegetables enhanced each other's flavor.

Synonyms

Translations

References
  1. Charles L. Cutler, O Brave New Words!: Native American Loanwords in Current English →ISBN, 2000)
  2. Oxford Dictionary of English →ISBN

Further reading
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