Actaea

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Actaea

Actaea (baneberry or bugbane) is a genus

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s belonging to the family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae is a family of flowering plants also known as the "buttercup family" or "crowfoot family". The family name is derived from the genus Ranunculus....
, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

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Encyclopedia

Actaea (baneberry or bugbane) is a genus

Genus

Flowering plant

Ranunculaceae

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator....
.

The genus is closely related to Cimicifuga
Cimicifuga

Cimicifuga is a genus of between 12-18 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
and Souliea, and many botanists include those genera within Actaea (e.g. Compton et al. 1998, Compton & Culham 2002, Gao et al. 2006, RHS Plant Finder, 2007) based on combined evidence from DNA sequence data, similarity in biochemical constituents and on morphology; if included, the number of species in Actaea rises to 25-30. Other botanists (e.g. Hoffman 1999, Wang et al. 1999, Lee & Park 2004) reject this merger because only one group (Actaea) have fleshy fruit while the remainder have dry fruit. The genus is treated here in its broader sense.

Selected species

Actaea asiatica
Actaea asiatica

Actaea asiatica is species of baneberry that ranges throughout Asia.The flowers are ranges from gray to white. The berries are black-purple....
Actaea pachypoda
Actaea pachypoda

Actaea pachypoda is a flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to eastern North America.It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 50 cm or more tall....
– White Baneberry, White Cohosh, Doll's Eyes
Actaea racemosa – Black Cohosh, Black Bugbane
Actaea rubra (syn. Actaea erythrocarpa) – Red Baneberry
Actaea spicata
Actaea spicata

Actaea spicata is a species of flowering plant in the genus Actaea, native to Europe and western Asia.It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing 30-60 cm tall....
(syn. Actaea alba) – Baneberry, Herb Christopher

The name Actaea alba (L.) Mill. is a confused one (Fernald 1940); although described as an American species (now named A. pachypoda), the illustration on which the description was based was actually a picture of the European A. spicata, and strictly, the name is therefore a synonym of the European species. Some texts however still treat A. pachypoda under this name.

Actaea is recorded as a food plant for the larva

Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
of the Dot Moth

Dot Moth

The Dot Moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe apart from the south-east.This is a very distinctive species with very dark brown, almost black, forewings marked with a large white glossary of Lepidopteran terms from which the species gets its common name....
.

Use and toxicity

Baneberry contains cardiogenic toxins than can have an immediate sedative affect on human cardiac muscle tissue. The berries are the most poisonous part of the plant (hence the name baneberry). Ingestion of the berries can lead to cardiac arrest and death. The berries are harmless to birds, the plant's primary seed disperser. Actaea species are closely related to plants in the genus Aconitum

Aconitum

Aconitum , known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, women's bane, Devil's helmet or blue rocket, is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family ....
, a highly toxic plant genus which contains wolfbane and several varieties of monkshood.

The roots of A. rubra contain ß-sitosterol glucoside

Glucoside

A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is Hydrolysis by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes....
, and was used medicinally by Native Americans with a long history of use as an alternative to Black Cohosh, (A. racemosa), for menstrual cramping and menopausal discomfort.