I have a large backyard and I hadn't visited this corner in a while. I was surprised to see this bush. I tried searching on the internet and all I could find that sort of matched was Phytolacca americana (Pokeweed, pokeberry, poke, inkberry, pigeonberry) http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Phytoam.htm Is this what it is? I just wanted to confirm it before I hack it and trash it. It is kind of pretty but if it is poisonous I need it out of my yard as I am getting a puppy (hence the tour of my backyard wilderness). On the same note, is there anything I should be aware of when destroying it? The website listed above says all parts are poisonous so I was going to wear gloves and try to get it from the roots. Thanks for any help!!!
Looks like Phytolacca americana to me. Be careful that none of the berries falls when you pull it up - it can be quite difficult to eradicate.
Pack a lunch! You're going to need a shovel to get out the taproot. PS I've handled the plant all my life with bare hands. Just don't lick your fingers when you're done. :-) You will need to glove up to prevent stains from those berries though.
Thanks for the confirmation! I went and clipped all the berries into a garbage bag. The digging up will have to wait for another day but I figured the least I could do is get the thing neutered, haha. Now that I know what to look for, sure enough, there are a few little sproutlings around it. The furthest one was about five feet away. They all looked dead and there were a lot of shriveled remains of berries on the stalks and on the ground around them, so I clipped/picked up what I could find there. I guess I will just have to add a weekly berry check to my schedule next spring to try to dig up the ones that were too brown and shriveled for me to identify right now. My backyard is 1/2 lawn and 1/2 wild so there is a whole tangle of other stuff around it and I have no idea what I am looking at. Again, thanks for confirming my suspicions!!! Is it wrong of me to think it really was a pretty bush if not for the poisonous part?
Not at all. I keep P. peruviana in my front garden because it vines nicely around the ironwork in my fence and looks pretty. I just keep the cat in the backyard - all the kids here know to stay away from it.
