Actaea rubra

Did You Know?

• The berries are harmless to birds, which are the plant's primary seed disperser.
• Native Americans traditionally used the juice from the fruits of various baneberry species to poison arrows.
• The foliage is rarely consumed by grazing animals.

Description

This perennial herb grows 40 to 80 cm tall. Its leaves are coarsely toothed with deeply lobed margins, and the undersides of the foliage commonly have hairy veins. Each stem bears either three leaves that branch near the top, or three compound leaves plus one upright flowering stalk from a single point on the main stem. The plant produces one to a few ternately branched stems with flower clusters. The flowers have 3 to 5 petal-like sepals that are obovate and persist after flowering, while the deciduous petals are clawed at the base, 2.5 to 4 mm long, and spatulate to obovate. Numerous white stamens are present. After flowering, green ellipsoid berries form, turning bright red (or white in forma neglecta) in mid to late summer, each with a black dot.

Distribution and habitat

Actaea rubra grows in shady areas with moist to wet soils, open forests, or dry slopes across much of North America, excluding Greenland, Nunavut, Mexico, Texas, and the southeastern United States. In Alaska, its range extends from the Kenai Peninsula through Kodiak Island, Bristol Bay, and up the Yukon River. NatureServe evaluated it as globally secure in 2016, with varying subnational statuses from apparently secure to critically imperiled in different regions.

Toxicity

The berries are the most hazardous part, with as few as six causing poisoning in a healthy adult and just two potentially fatal for a child. Symptoms include nausea, dizziness, a rapid pulse, and severe stomach upset. The toxins can also sedate heart muscle tissue, possibly leading to cardiac arrest if they enter the bloodstream. The fruits and leaves contain ranunculin and reportedly protoanemonin, along with berberine. An irritant oil is present throughout the plant, most concentrated in the roots and berries, and the roots also contain β-sitosterol glucoside. No severe poisonings or deaths have been recorded in North America, though children have died from the European relative A. spicata. This species closely resembles mountain sweetroot but lacks its strong anise-like odor.