Many birds love pokeweed berries, but all parts of this plant are poisonous to humans and many animals. The berries sure do look like they'd be tasty, but you'd better stay away!
I can only imagine how many people throughout history have made that mistake.
According to Wikipedia, the toxins in pokeweed are from highest to lowest:
- rootstock
- leaves
- stems
- ripe fruit
And according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the symptoms read like many of the big-pharma drugs we get bombarded with on TV:
Symptoms may include:
- Diarrhea, sometimes hemorrhagic (bloody) diarrhea
- Stomach pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Weakness
- Muscle spasms
- Convulsions
- Seizures
- Headache
- Heart block
- Rapid pulse
- Low blood pressure
- Slow or difficult breathing
