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Actaea spicata
Also called Baneberry, herb christopher, Herb Christopher, Eurasian Baneberry
Actaea spicata, baneberry or herb Christopher, is a shade-loving perennial woodland plant from Europe to western Siberia, grown in gardens for its white flower spikes and black berries. It does best in cool, moist, humus-rich soil in dappled or full shade.
Actaea spicata, the baneberry or herb Christopher, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Actaea, native from Europe to western Siberia and northern Iran. It is often found on limestone edges and in deciduous woodland; key factors are shade, low competition, and a cool, protected root run.
Actaea spicata is cultivated as an ornamental plant. It is toxic by ingestion, and is also an irritant, so requires careful handling. It has been used as a homeopathic remedy for arthritis and joint pain.
Granivorous rodents sometimes remove the fruits, consuming most of the seeds but only a small proportion of the fruit's pulp. As some seeds inevitably escape predation, they also act as seed dispersers.
Jejudo Bugbane · Actaea matsumurae · White baneberry · Black cohosh · Red baneberry · Actaea simplex
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Actaea spicata 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.
