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Actaea racemosa
Also called Black baneberry, Black Snakeroot, Black Bugbane
Black cohosh is a native North American woodland perennial grown for its tall white flower spikes and handsome divided leaves. It thrives in cool, moist, fairly rich soil in partial shade.
Actaea racemosa, the black cohosh, black bugbane, black snakeroot, rattle-top, or fairy candle (syn. Cimicifuga racemosa), is a species of flowering plant of the family Ranunculaceae. It is native to eastern North America from the extreme south of Ontario to central Georgia, and west to Missouri and Arkansas. It grows in a variety of woodland habitats, and is often found in small woodland openings.
The roots and rhizomes are used in traditional medicine by Native Americans. Its extracts are manufactured as herbal medicines or dietary supplements. Most dietary supplements containing black cohosh are not well-studied or recommended for safe and effective use in treating menopause symptoms or any disease. A thorough literature profiling suggests that Cimicifuga racemosa is more efficient compared to a placebo in treating vasomotor symptoms resulting from natural menopause.
A. racemosa grows in dependably moist, fairly heavy soil. It bears tall tapering racemes of white midsummer flowers on wiry black-purple stems, whose mildly unpleasant, medicinal smell at close range gives it the common name "Bugbane". The drying seed heads stay handsome in the garden for many weeks. Its deeply cut, superficially maple-like leaves, burgundy colored in the variety "atropurpurea", add interest to gardens, wherever summer heat and drought do not make it die back, which make it a popular garden perennial. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The plant was Virginia Native Plant Society's 2017 wildflower of the year.
Jejudo Bugbane · Actaea matsumurae · White baneberry · Red baneberry · Actaea simplex · Baneberry
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Actaea racemosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
