Phytolacca icosandra
Encyclopedia
Phytolacca icosandra, sometimes known as Tropical pokeweed, is a species of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 found in the neotropics, introduced into the warmer areas of the western USA.

It reaches up to 3 m in height, with leaves of 10-20 cm by 5-9 cm. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s are produced in racemes 10-15 cm long, each flower 5-10 mm diameter, with 8-20 stamens (icosandra means "twenty stamens"). The fruit is a black berry
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....

, 5-8 mm diameter.

The herbal cure hongosan is derived from this plant.

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