At 03:58 PM 8/13/2005, you wrote: >The kermes you refer to is a louse. But in Danish the pokeweed that is >native to the southern states is called kermesbær (kermes berry) and was >used as fruit colors up to about 1900. After the Civil war, poor people >used the pokeweed berries to make red ink, as they had no ink. > >(Also too much knowledge. The pokeweed grows beautifully here in Denmark.) In a few weeks my car will be painted pokeweed red courtesy of the birds. LOL. Dennis in Cincinnati where the pokeweed grows thick!