Is this some kind of berry?

Question

I found this plant growing with my cosmos. It is very tall, I'd say about 5 1/2 to 6 foot tall, and it looks like bunches of berries. I also found one growing behind the house. Is it a weed of some kind?

The bunches at the top of the plant look like tiny pink flowers, and a little further down the plant the tiny flowers have larger green balls that look like they grew out of the center of them. Even further down the plant, the balls are black, but you can still see the tiny pink "flowers" where they are attached to the plant. I have uploaded pics:

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n6/angelott/DSCF1225.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n6/angelott/DSCF1224.jpg

Answer 1

That is a POKE plant, when very young, you pick the leaves and young stem, cook with other greens,Too far gone now for human consumption,the berries will be very dark purple.This plant grows from a root once established

Answer 2

It's a weed that grows wild. We have alot in the South and try to get rid of them. The nickname is buckberry bush. Birds love them. I do not know what the real name is.

Answer 3

This is called a pokeweed or poke weed.  These plants usually orginate from birds which consume the berries and let the seeds pass through them.  Most of the time pokeweed grows in areas where the soil has been left undisturbed for 3 or 4 years.

Back in the day the leaves were consumed in poke salad but the plant leaves, berries, especially the roots are toxic when ingested.  People do eat the berries, but it is not recommended as it will give you a terrible stomach ache and possibly bloody stool.

It's a great bird attractor if you don't mind the plant growing really fast and big.  

If you want to remove it, it's easy to remove, just cut it down to size and either hoe or shovel it out.  Then pour some boiling hot salt water in the ground if there aren't any other plants around it.  It's not toxic for you to touch it, the berries will stain your hands (used as a dye) but otherwise it won't poison you unless you eat it.