Look like Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana.

A prolifically seeding pest.

The young shoots in Spring are good to eat...mixed with scrambled eggs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie

'A prolifically seeding pest.' In a garden maybe but as a US native does it do any harm in the wild?

It's not a problem over here, luckily, and is sometimes used in gardens as a statuesque perennial. This is at The Courts, Holt, Wiltshire.

This post was edited by floral_uk on Sat, Sep 27, 14 at 7:03

Birds benefit from the berries. It is native to some parts of the US.

i am working on killing a couple hundred 5 footers on my lot this week ...

no real upside to them ...

your have to poison them.. with their horse radish like root mass .. any piece left.. will come back next year ...

ken

The upside to them - in the right place, they are a beautiful and large native herbaceous (green, non-woody) plant. They are hardy and pest free (including deer). The large leaves and colorful berries are highly ornamental. The berries as mentioned are bird food. Pokeweed is an edible plant (spring greens with much caution!) and has a long history of herbal use.

And a plant at the edge of a woodland setting as the picture appears, is in the perfect place.

FataMorgana

Really, ken? Couple hundred 5 footers? Number one, I didn't think you had enough land to support 200 weeds that have grown to 5 feet while you weren't looking. Number two, you are so johnny-on-the-spot about treating weeds that I can't believe you'd let something live that long, let alone 200 of them!

(tongue in cheek)

They're short lived..and die out in a year or two (from my experience)...just a disturbance/fire after effect.

Oh, they are not mine: just saw them growing in the woods at a local arboretum, and wondered what they were. They were just striking, with the colored stems and the graceful sprays of berries.