Is Phytolacca Americana poisonous? The difference between pokeweed and Phytolacca!

Phytolacca is a kind of medicinal material, its root can be used as medicine after drying, and it has the effect of detumescence and detoxification, while Phytolacca Americana is a kind of Phytolacca acinosa, which is an invasive plant. So is Phytolacca Americana poisonous? What's the difference between pokeweed and Phytolacca?

Is Phytolacca Americana poisonous?

1. Phytolacca Americana, also known as Phytolacca, Phytolacca, Phytolacca and Phytolacca, is an invasive plant native to North America. It is introduced and naturalized all over the world, and is distributed in most provinces of our country.

2. Phytolacca Americana is 1-2m high, with erect or scattered stems, cylindrical, sometimes purplish red; leaves 15mur30cm long and 3Mu10 cm wide, long elliptic or ovate-elliptic; flowers white, slightly reddish; fruit oblate, juicy, purplish black when ripe, fruit drooping in clusters, seeds smooth; root hypertrophy, obconical.

3. The whole plant of Phytolacca Americana is poisonous, and its roots and fruits are the most toxic. Because its rhizome is very similar to ginseng, it is often mistaken for ginseng, the poisoning symptoms are severe vomiting or dry choking, burning sensation from mouth to stomach, abdominal convulsions, diarrhea, and even heart paralysis. Therefore, we must attach great importance to it in the distribution area of Phytolacca Americana and do not eat it by mistake.

4. Phytolacca Americana is generally cultivated as an ornamental plant, but it is toxic all over the body, so it is poisoned by accidental ingestion. It is suggested to eradicate it.

What is the difference between Phytolacca Americana and Phytolacca Americana?

The first difference is that the plants are different: Phytolacca Americana is 1-2 meters high, the stem is erect or scattered, cylindrical, sometimes purplish red, while Phytolacca is 0.5-1.5 m high, the stem is erect, cylindrical, with longitudinal grooves, fleshy, green or reddish purple, much branched.

The leaves of Phytolacca Americana are 15-30 cm long and 10 cm wide, long-oval or ovate-elliptic, tender, while those of Phytolacca are 10-30 cm long and 4.5-15 cm wide, elliptic, long-elliptic or lanceolate-elliptic, thinly papery, apex acute or acuminate, base cuneate, with small white spots scattered on both surfaces.

Third, the flowers are different: the racemes of Phytolacca Americana are erect, terminal or lateral, about 15 cm long, the flowers are white, slightly reddish, stamens and carpels are (8 -) 10 (- 12), while Phytolacca racemes are erect, terminal or opposite to leaves, flowers white, yellowish green, stamens 8-10, carpels 8, sometimes as little as 5 or as much as 10.

Fourth, the fruit is different: the fruit of Phytolacca Americana is drooping, while that of Phytolacca is erect.

Fifth, the toxicity is different: the whole plant of Phytolacca Americana is poisonous, the root and fruit are the most toxic, and it is easy to be poisoned by mistake; while there are two kinds of Phytolacca, those with purple stems are poisonous and cannot be eaten, and those with green stems can not only eat their tender stems and leaves, but also can be used as medicine.

The above is the answer to whether Phytolacca Americana is toxic and the difference between Phytolacca and Phytolacca. I hope it will be useful to you.