American Pokeweed

Phytolacca rigida Small, Bull. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 3: 422. 1905
A glabrous herb, 1-3 m. or more tall, similar to P. americana L., the stem and branches greenish-purple; leaf-blades oblong-lanceolate or lanceolate, 6-20 cm. long, 1.7-7.5 cm. broad, occasionally larger, acuminate at the apex, narrowed at the base into the petiole; petiole slender, 0.5-2.5 cm. long; racemes pcduneled, 5-25 cm. long, erect in fruit; bracts and bractlcts lanceolate; flowers pedicelled; sepals ovate or elliptic-ovate, 3 mm. long, apiculate, purplish in fruit; stamens 9-11, the filaments subulate, 2.5 mm. long; anthers elliptic, 0.8 mm. long; styles recurved; berry globose or subglobose, dark-purple, 9-11 mm. in diameter; seeds suborbicular, 3—3.5 mm. long, 3 mm. wide, black, shining.
Typh locality: Florida. DISTRIBUTION: Florida and Mississippi.