Raw berries, stems, and red unripe fruit upset the gut and contain cyanogenic compounds. Always cook. Do not confuse with pokeweed (different leaf, different cluster, deadly-looking red stems).

Part used

Ripe cooked berries; flowers. Never stems, leaves, or roots.

Gather

Flowers in June. Berries August when they hang purple-black and come off in plates. Ditch lines and pond edges.

Tea

Flowers: 1 Tbsp dried in a cup, covered 10 minutes, for a dry cold and a sweat.

Tincture

Cooked mashed berries 1:2 in 80–100 proof, 4 weeks. Or tincture the finished syrup 1:1 if that is what you have.

Other

Syrup with honey is what you will actually take. See the recipe.