Actaea elata | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Ranunculales |
Family: | Ranunculaceae |
Genus: | Actaea |
Species: | A. elata |
Binomial name | |
Actaea elata | |
Synonyms | |
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Actaea elata [1] [2] [3] [4] (syn. Cimicifuga elata) [5] [6] is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name tall bugbane. It is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it can be found in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. [2] [4] [5] [6]
This species is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial reaching a maximum height around 1.8 meters. It is hairy in texture, with some glandular hairs. The leaves are made up of many lobed, toothed leaflets which resemble maple leaves in shape. The inflorescence is a branching panicle up to 17 centimeters long. The panicle bears many flowers, each with five white or pink-tinged sepals, but no petals. The flower presents a spray of long white stamens. Blooming occurs from May [7] or June to August. The fruit is a flattened follicle up to 1.2 centimeters long. [6] [7] The fruits are poisonous. [8] The plant has an unpleasant scent. [9]
This species grows in moist woods and forest habitat. It is mostly restricted to lower elevations and is more common on north-facing slopes. It is associated with the forest trees Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), [4] western redcedar (Thuja plicata), red alder (Alnus rubra), and vine maple (Acer circinatum), and other forest plants such as oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor), hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), sword fern (Polystichum munitum), and snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus). Alpine enchanter's nightshade (Circaea alpina), herb robert (Geranium robertianum), and wall lettuce (Lactuca muralis) are indicator species for the plant, often growing alongside it. [10] This species can dominate the forest understory where it is common. [11] The plant may be found in old-growth forests. [7] It prefers the shade of dense forests. It can tolerate some breaks in the canopy but not large-scale clearing, such as clearcutting. Some penetrating sunlight is beneficial for the plant during its reproductive season. Animals associated with the species include the mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa), particularly in Canada. Depending on location, pollinators of the plant include bumblebees, other types of bees, beetles, and syrphid flies. [12]
This species has a limited distribution in its range. Most occurrences are in southern Oregon, where the populations can be large. There are fewer occurrences in Washington. [4] In British Columbia, the plant is only known from the far southern regions of the province, near the Chilliwack River. [13] It is considered an endangered species in British Columbia. [14] There are ten known populations in British Columbia, making up less than 5% of the global population of the plant. [12]
In 2004 a new variety of the species was named and defined, var. alpestris. This variety is endemic to southern Oregon and it differs from other members of its species by having scales along the lower stem, and often more pistils. It may also be found at higher elevations. [15]
Threats to this species include processes that threaten its home ecosystems, such as the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. Fire suppression, logging, road maintenance, and other forest disturbance, collection from the wild, and damage to pollinator populations can harm occurrences of the plant. [12]
Actaea racemosa, the black cohosh, black bugbane, black snakeroot, rattle-top, or fairy candle, 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. In contrast, some herbal medicinal products containing black cohosh extract hold a marketing authorization in several states of the European Union and are well-studied and recommended for safe and effective use for the relief of menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and profuse sweating attacks. Such differentiation between the product types seems to be important.
Actaea, commonly called baneberry, bugbane and cohosh, is a genus of flowering plants of the family Ranunculaceae, native to subtropical, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America.
Vaccinium ovatum is a North American species of flowering shrub known by the common names evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry, cynamoka berry and California huckleberry. Vaccinium ovatum is classified in phylum: Magnoliaphyta, order: Ericales, family: Ericaceae, genus: Vaccinium, and species: ovatum.
Berteroa incana is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. Its common names include hoary alyssum, false hoary madwort, hoary berteroa, and hoary alison. It is a biennial herb native to Eurasia and it has been introduced to western Europe and North America. It is listed as an invasive noxious weed in some areas of United States and Canada
Coptis laciniata is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Oregon goldthread. It is native to Washington, Oregon, and northern California on the west coast of the United States, where it grows in wet habitat in the understory of mountain and coastal coniferous forests. It is a small perennial herb creeping on a yellow stolon through other vegetation and leaf litter. There are a few leaves on its short stem which are divided into leaflets subdivided into several toothed lobes. The stemlike inflorescence arises up to 19 centimeters tall from the stem at ground level. Each flower is an array of thin, threadlike petals. Six to 12 fruits arise on short stalks, arranged in a ring. The fruits are shiny, hairless follicles, each roughly a centimeter long.
Prosartes hookeri is a North American species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common names drops of gold and Hooker's fairy bells.
Veronica wormskjoldii is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name American alpine speedwell. It is native to much of northern and western North America, including the western United States and northern Canada, from where it grows in moist alpine habitat, such as mountain forest understory. It has a wide subarctic distribution from Alaska to Greenland. It is named after the Danish botanist Morten de Wormskjold (1783-1845) who had studied under professor Jens Wilken Hornemann (1770-1841) and had reportedly collected 157 species of vascular plants during an expedition to Greenland in 1812-1813, more than doubling the then number known. The expedition was manifestly to collect specimens for the Flora Danica and was financed by his Wormskjold's father, though Hornemann sponsored chancery secretary Friedrich Gustav Heiliger (c.1789-) as botanical draftsman, paid for by the royal treasury. He stayed in Nuuk and in the vicinity of Qaqortoq and was helped to collect the plant specimens by the local Greenlandic population, which Wormskiold described.
Microseris bigelovii is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name coastal silverpuffs. It is native to the west coast of North America, where its range extends from the southern tip of Vancouver Island to the northern coast of California.
Osmorhiza berteroi is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common name mountain sweet cicely.
Osmorhiza occidentalis is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common name western sweet cicely or western sweetroot.
Thalictrum occidentale is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name western meadow-rue. It is native to northwestern North America from Alaska and western Canada to northern California to Wyoming and Colorado, where it grows in shady habitat types such as forest understory and more open, moist habitat such as meadows.
Trautvetteria caroliniensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae native to North America. It is known by the common names Carolina bugbane, false bugbane, and tassel-rue. The genus is named for the botanist Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter.
Potentilla villosa is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. Its common names include villous cinquefoil, northern cinquefoil, and hairy cinquefoil. It is native to northwestern North America, where its distribution extends from Alaska to Alberta to Oregon. There are records from eastern Asia.
Lonicera utahensis is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common names Utah honeysuckle, red twinberry, and fly honeysuckle. It is native to western North America from British Columbia, Washington (state), and Oregon, east to Alberta and Montana and south through the Rocky Mountains to Arizona and New Mexico.
Eucephalus vialis is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name wayside aster. It is native to southwestern Oregon and northwestern California in the United States.
Actaea arizonica is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Arizona bugbane. It is endemic to Arizona in the United States, where it occurs in Coconino, Gila, and Yavapai Counties. Like some other species in genus Actaea, this plant was formerly included in the genus Cimicifuga.
Actaea podocarpa, the mountain bugbane or mountain black-cohosh, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is found in the Appalachian Mountains, with a disjunct population in Illinois. It is found in rich, mesic forests often in boulder-strewn coves.
Actaea simplex, the baneberry or bugbane, is a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. A clump-forming rhizomatous herbaceous perennial, its native range includes the Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Siberian regions of Russia, western China, Manchuria, Mongolia, Korea and Japan. Plants may be harmful if eaten, and the sap may irritate the skin. The genus name Actaea is the Latin name adopted by Linnaeus from Pliny. The specific epithet simplex means simple or unbranched. The common name "bugbane" refers to the fact that the leaves' scent repels insects.
Actaea matsumurae, the Kamchatka bugbane or Japanese bugbane, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, that is native to Japan, Mongolia and Eastern Russia. Other common names include baneberry, which is also applied to other Actaea species.
Actaea rubifolia, commonly known as Appalachian black cohosh or Appalachian bugbane, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family. The plant does well in alkaline soils and mature forests. The "bugbane" in the name refers to the unpleasantness of its flowers' smell repelling insects. It is poisonous if consumed by humans.