08/11/2026
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Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said, “What is a w**d? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
Humanity has known for centuries about the virtues of pokew**d— as a food source for animals and, when cooked, humans— but it still has a nasty reputation and many people are in a hurry to clear it from their land.
It’s true that raw pokew**d, especially the unripe berries, contain compounds that are poisonous to some animals. Horses, sheep, cattle, and human children will generally avoid raw pokew**d because it doesn’t taste very good to them, but in some cases, animals have eaten pokew**d and become sick or even died. This leads many people to view the plant as dangerous and to eliminate it as soon as it springs up on their property.
Native North American animals, on the other hand, experience pokew**d as a gift, not a w**d. Having co-evolved with the plant for tens of thousands of years, most native animals have a tolerance for the compounds that can be harmful to animals (and people) who originated elsewhere in the world. Raccoons, skunks, deer, box turtles, opossums, and countless species of songbird not only tolerate pokew**d, but depend on it for nutrition.
Of course, if you have dogs or horses or small children who tend to be overly curious about putting things in their mouths and might ignore that pokew**d doesn’t taste good to them, it’s certainly okay to clear pokew**d from your property. However, if it’s safe for you to do so, please leave native plants alone so your local wildlife can enjoy the meal!
