What kind of summer blooming perennial is this?

Question

I live in Otsego County in New york State. We just moved into a new home and this plant is growing out front. It had died back entirely this winter. It is about 3 1/2 ft tall. Large simple leaves.Smoothed waved edge. The stems are a reddish color and are very thick. White pointed compound flowers. Shaped similar to a lilac but a lot smaller. Only about 2 inches long or so. The main branches and shoots on the flower are red/pink in color and at the very end of each shoot there is a single white flower with 5 petals and a very large green center that is rounded. I have pictures available. email me at [e-mail].

I think it might be pokeweed. ??

Answer 1

if it gets purple berries about a month from now, it's pokeweed. Here's some more photos...

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Pokeweed.html

I actually think the plant is pretty. The birds like the berries and they will eat them. I used to let one plant grow in my compost heap at my first house, just for that reason.

FYI: They pull easily when they first come up. If you take a look at the photo of the taproot in the link I gave, you'll see why it is a Good Idea to get them pulled when they're young if they are in an area where you do not want them.

Answer 2

Superior description. Here is an image of pokeweed:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3Dpokeweed%2Bimage&w=430&h=325&imgurl=www.illinoiswildflowers.info%2Fweeds%2Fphotos%2Fpokeweed1.jpg&size=56.1&name=pokeweed1.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.illinoiswildflowers.info%2Fweeds%2Fplants%2Fpokeweed.htm&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.illinoiswildflowers.info%2Fweeds%2Fplants%2Fpokeweed.htm&p=pokeweed&type=jpeg&no=1&tt=691