Indian Pokeweed – the Ink of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars

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One of our newest members, Virginia Arnold, is a naturalist. She clued me into the fact that Indian Pokeweed, which grows all over our community, and in the South and East, was used by Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers to write letters home to their loved ones.

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https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/home–garden/poke-plant-unsung-war-hero/ozy2UMz21YoTQ5dH9PWfKL/

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The link above does not seem to want to work so I created two screenshots of the article 

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[Dorothy Dewitz]

In November 2016 I went on a walk with an urban ranger in Van Cortlandt Park. The focus of the walk was Native American uses of plants in the area. Pokeweed was mentioned as being used to make a dye that Native Americans used on their skin.

[Art Weisenseel]

COGGINSS:  “It also found a home in Portugal, where port wines are very popular.  Berry juice became a popular way to make poor red wine look better with added color.  Once the ruse was discovered it was banned from the vineyard regions of the Old World to prevent this use.”

It’s still there as an invasive plant.  We just came back from there and walking near the Douro River I saw those distinctive berries and thought to myself “Geez, I guess there is a European pokeweed.”

[Author]

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