Actaea pachypoda | |
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flowers and leaves | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Ranunculales |
Family: | Ranunculaceae |
Genus: | Actaea |
Species: | A. pachypoda |
Binomial name | |
Actaea pachypoda | |
Actaea pachypoda, the white baneberry or doll's-eyes, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Actaea, of the family Ranunculaceae.
The plant is native to eastern North America, in eastern Canada, and the Midwestern and Eastern United States. It prefers clay to coarse loamy upland soils, and is found in hardwood and mixed forest stands.
This herbaceous perennial plant grows to 46–76 cm (18–30 in) or more tall. [2] [3] It has toothed, bipinnate compound leaves up to 40 cm (16 in) long and 30 cm (12 in) broad. [4]
The white flowers are produced in spring in a dense raceme about 10 cm (3.9 in) long. The plant's most striking feature is its fruit, a 1 cm (1⁄2 in) diameter white berry, whose size, shape, and black stigma scar give the species its other common name, "doll's eyes". The pedicels thicken and become bright red as the berries develop. [3]
The berries ripen over the summer, turning into fruits that persists on the plant until frost.
There are pink- and red-berried plants that have been called A. pachypoda forma rubrocarpa, but some of them produce infertile seed, and may actually be hybrids with Actaea rubra. [5]
The specific name pachypoda means "thick foot", from Ancient Greek παχύς pakhús "thick" and πούς poús "foot", which could refer to the large rhizome of the plant [4] or to the stalks supporting the berries, [6] which are thicker than the closely related Actaea rubra . [4]
Both the berries [7] and the entire plant are considered poisonous to humans. The berries contain cardiogenic toxins which can have an immediate sedative effect on human cardiac muscle tissue, and are the most poisonous part of the plant. Ingestion of the berries can lead to cardiac arrest and death.
A variety of birds, which are not affected by the toxins, eat the berries and help disperse the seeds. Long-tongued bees collect pollen from the flowers. [8]
Actaea pachypoda is cultivated as an ornamental plant, in traditional and wildlife gardens.
It requires part or full shade, rich loamy soil, and regular water with good drainage to reproduce its native habitat. [2]
Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry, is a species of bird cherry native to North America.
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.
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Solanum americanum, commonly known as American black nightshade, small-flowered nightshade or glossy nightshade, is a herbaceous flowering plant of wide though uncertain native range. The certain native range encompasses the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Melanesia, New Guinea, and Australia.
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Actaea rubra, the red baneberry or chinaberry, is a poisonous herbaceous flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to North America.
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Clintonia andrewsiana is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. The species was discovered by John Milton Bigelow in 1854 and described by John Torrey in 1856. The specific epithet andrewsiana honors Timothy Langdon Andrews (1819–1908), a "gentleman who assiduously examined the botany" of California during the mid-19th century. The species is commonly known as Andrews clintonia or red clintonia, where the latter refers to the color of the flowers. In California, it is also known as bluebead lily or western bluebead lily, not to be confused with C. borealis, which is likewise known as bluebead lily. The Pomo people of northern California consider the plant to be poisonous.
A. rubra may refer to:
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Ribes rotundifolium is a North American species of currant known by the common names wild gooseberry and Appalachian gooseberry. It is native to the eastern United States, primarily the Adirondacks, from Massachusetts and the Appalachian Mountains south as far as South Carolina and Tennessee.
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Borodinia dentata, commonly called Short's rockcress, is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to the eastern North America, where it is found in Canada and the United States. In the United States, its range is primarily centered in the Midwest, and in Canada it is only known from Ontario. Its natural habitat is in nutrient-rich alluvial forests and loamy bluffs, often on calcareous substrate.
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