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Ranunculaceae
Red Baneberry
Actaea rubra
Beauty and danger.
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Genus
- Actaea
- Native to
- North America
- Bloom season
- Late Spring, Early Summer
- Type
- perennial herb
- Height
- 1-3 ft
- Sunlight
- shade to part shade
- Soil
- moist, humus-rich
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 3-7
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Every part of the plant is toxic — eating just six berries can cause cardiac arrest.
- The fluffy white flower clusters give way to brilliant red berries by midsummer.
- Birds eat the berries safely and disperse the seeds, but mammals cannot tolerate them.
- Native peoples used minute amounts of the root medicinally, with great caution.
- A white-fruited form called 'doll's eyes' (Actaea pachypoda) has black-pupiled white berries that look genuinely eerie.
Color meanings
0
hidden danger
1
forest mystery