Common Name: red baneberry
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Ranunculaceae
Native Range: Temperate Northern Hemisphere
Zone: 3 to 7
Height: 1.00 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: May to June
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Birds
Fruit: Showy
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Wet Soil
Culture
Best grown in evenly moist, humusy, rich, well-draining soils in part shade to full shade. Will tolerate wet soils as long as they are well-draining. Climates with cool summers are preferred. Hardy in Zones 3-7. Propagate through division or seed. Seeds require a dormant period of up to two years if sown outdoors. If sown indoors, seeds require a period of cold, moist stratification followed by a period of warm, moist stratification, and finally a second period of cold, moist stratification before germination. Plants may not flower until the third year following sowing.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Actaea rubra, commonly known as red baneberry, is a herbaceous perennial native to deciduous and mixed coniferous woodlands, stream banks, swamps, and other cool, moist habitats throughout the western and northern United States. Mature plants will reach 1-3' tall and spread to fill a similar area. 1-4 compound leaves reaching up to 1.5' long emerge from thickened rhizomes. The leaves are bipinnately or tripinnately compound, with coarsely serrated, lobed, ovate leaflets reaching around 2" long. Rounded to pyramidal clusters of small, white flowers emerge at the ends of leafless stalks just above the foliage from late spring into early summer. The flowers are followed by rounded berries that mature from green to red and sometimes white. White-fruited individuals of A. rubra may be mistaken for white baneberry (A. pachypoda), but can be distinguished by their pedicles which are more slender than the central rachis. The rachis and pedicles of A. pachypoda are around the same diameter. The fruits are eaten by birds including thrushes, thrashers, and grouse, and small mammals such as mice, squirrels and chipmunks will eat the seeds but avoid the fleshy pulp. All parts of the plant including the roots and fruits are poisonous to humans.
Genus name is the Latin name adopted by Linnaeus from Pliny.
The specific epithet rubra means "red", in reference to the bright red fruits of this species.
The common name red baneberry refers to the color and toxicity of the fruit.
Problems
No major pest or disease concerns. The fruits are poisonous to humans but valuable to wildlife. Due to the overall toxicity of this species, mammalian herbivores such as deer and rabbits tend to avoid it.
Uses
Woodland gardens, shaded stream banks, and other shady garden areas with moist, rich, well-draining soils and cool conditions.