American pokeweed American pokeweed is a perennial, and it's commonly known as a survivalist plant. The plant is often referred to as poke salad, poke sallet, pokeweed, poke, among a few others. During the first days of spring, purplish shoots of pokeweed emerge from the soil. The plant will often pop up as a volunteer, and depending on the location, pokeweed can grow anywhere from 6 feet to 20 feet tall. The stalks and stems of pokeweed are an attractive purplish plum color. The leaves are a beautiful green color, and they can grow as big as 14 inches long by 7 to 8 inches wide. The plant's leaves will be tapered at each end. By summer, pokeweed begins producing long clusters of green and white flowers. The flowers turn into green berries that then transition from a light pink to a dark plum color. Pokeweed grows flowers and berries often at the same time and will continue to grow until the first frost. I have never pulled a pokeweed plant up from its roots, but I