With the official start of the summer season quickly approaching, you might notice a certain plant popping up in Ontario that produces juicy-looking deep purple berries. 

While their fruits might look delicious, a couple bites of the plant's poisonous berries could land you straight in the hospital, and unless you want a severe case of vomiting and diarrhea, it's best to steer clear of the flowering plant and keep pets on a tight leash. 

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is a pervasive green native to Canada, and can be found in meadows, at the edge of woodlots, and in fencerows and waste areas in southern Ontario. 

The poisonous, herbaceous plant grows between one to three metres tall and can be toxic when ingested improperly by humans and pets. The plant is particularly poisonous to livestock, and may cause vomiting, paralysis, and even death. 

Photo: Ivanhoe106/Shutterstock. 

Pokeweed can be distinguished by its seed head consisting of several berries ranging from immature (green) to mature (purple). The plant's flowers have no petals, but five petal-like sepals that are green, white, and pinkish in clusters at the ends of main stems and branches. 

The poisonous elements of the plant are oxalic acid and a saponin called phytolaccotoxin. The root of the plant is the most toxic portion, although other parts also contain smaller amounts of toxins.

In general, the plant gets more toxic with maturity, except for its berries, which are dangerous even while they're green. 

Although the perennial weed is used in some dishes — namely poke salad — the plant can cause nausea, vomiting, cramping, stomach pain, diarrhea, low blood pressure, difficulty controlling urination, thirst, and other serious side effects. 

While its berries may look delicious and enticing, pokeweed is best admired from afar. Contact with the plant's leaves, roots, or berries can also cause a painful blistering rash.