Marilyn Wood, age 12, of Richfield Springs, N.Y., for her question:

What is an inkberry?

There was a time when inks were made from natural substances ‑ animal, mineral or vegetable. Nowadays, the major part of an ink recipe comes from carefully prepared chemicals, though a certain amount of natural substance is still added. The first inks were made from lamp black gathered from burned wood or bones. This powdery black was mixed with gum and resins and it was so durable that some of it is still readable after 4,000 years. Later, people found ink materials in minerals and plant juices. Red ink was made from the crushed bodies of the little cochineal bug.

 The people who settled North America had to find their own ways for making ink. They looked around to see what plants could be made to yield dark, durable writing fluids. They found several different berries that yielded blue black dyes. Several of these plants already had names of their own, but when they came to be used for making ink they were all called inkberries ‑ which seems very sensible. certain holly tree which grows in the eastern part of North America is called an inkberry. It is, of course, an evergreen and its oblong leaves are dark and glossy. But, unlike the well known Christmas holly, this tree bears black berries. Those berries were once used to make ink and the black berried holly got the name inkberry. It was also named the gallberry because some of the best ink has always been made from oakgalls.

When oakgalls are soaked in hot water they yield a dark tannin which can be used to make a lustrous blue black ink. Nowadays, the ink makers use iron salts to replace this material,, though a little natural oakgall is usually added to the recipe.

Of all the various inkberry plants, perhaps the best known is a weed which grows throughout the eastern and central states. The plant is from four to twelve feet tall, depending upon the richness of the soil. The leaves are smooth and bright green and all the stems are rosy red. In Spring the pretty weed is decked with sprays of small white flowers, sometimes tinged with purple.

The petals fall and the seeds develop. They form in round clusters which at first look like fancy green cookies in pink stalks, Later they turn into dark purple, juicy looking berries ‑ the berries which once yielded dye to make ink. Certain birds enjoy eating these lush berries and, sad to say, the effect is like strong whiskey. These birds become bold, noisy, quarrelsome and just plain drunk. For this reason the inkberry weed is also called the pokeberry.

The root of the pokeberry is even more dangerous than the berries, for it is a deadly poison. However, there is no poison and no intoxicating liquor in the tender young shoots of the plant. In fact they may be gathered and served as a cooked green vegetable.