Baneberry

The genus in the family Ranunculaceae includes herbaceous plants that grow in the temperate forests of Europe, Asia, and North America. The plants are poisonous; toxicity remains even after drying. Contact of the sap with the mucous membranes of the mouth and eyes is particularly dangerous.

A total of 3 species of the genus occur in the CIS; all are woodland rhizomatous perennials and are similar to one another. Baneberry red-fruited (A. erythrocarpa Fisch.) is distinguished by the color of the fruits (red, less often white) and grows in the forest zone of the European (northern half of the zone) and Asian parts of the country, including Sakhalin Island; acuminate baneberry (A. acuminata Wall ex Royle) with black fruits on thickened stalks grows in the forests of the Far East. In the European part of Russia, spiked baneberry (Actaea spicata L.) is found almost everywhere in the forest zone.

White baneberry — Actaea alba

Mountain forests in eastern North America. A perennial upright herbaceous plant up to 90 см tall. Leaves are dark green, large, pinnate with 2–3 ternate divisions; leaflets are roughly oval, acute, toothed and partly lobed, with pronounced veins. Flowers are attractive, full and white, borne in short compact racemes on large, whitish pedicels. At the end of summer showy white, pea-sized fruits appear on bright red stalks. Requires moisture-retentive soil and a position in partial shade. Propagation by division of clumps in spring. Hardy in the conditions of the central zone and northern Ukraine.

Acuminate baneberry — Actaea acuminata

Tibet, the Himalayas, the Far East. Occurs in forests, shrubs, and forest edges. A perennial up to 90 см tall. Stems solitary, erect or knee-bent, sparsely branched. Leaves 20-50 см long, 15-45 см wide, broadly triangular, twice ternately pinnate, with acuminate tips. Leaflets 5-10 см long, 2-6 см wide, broadly triangular, 2–3-lobed, tapering to a point, serrate-toothed. Inflorescence 4-10 см long, up to 4 см in diameter (with fruits up to 10-20 см long and 6 см in diameter). Flowers 5-9 мм in diameter, white. The plant is very ornamental when in fruit. Fruits black, shiny, up to 7 мм in diameter.

Spiked baneberry — Actaea spicata L. = Actaea asiatica H.Hara (var.)

Grows in shady moist broad-leaved, coniferous and mixed forests, on plains and in mountains (up to 1900 м above sea level), on soils usually with neutral (slightly acidic or slightly alkaline) reaction, rich in mineral nitrogen. Found in the European part of Russia almost everywhere in the forest zone, on the Caucasus and in Western Siberia. For Siberia this species is a relict of Pliocene broad-leaved forests and has an insular range in the Altai, significantly isolated from the main area. A perennial with a thick multi-headed rhizome. Stems up to 70 см tall (single or several), smooth or slightly pubescent in the upper part, at the base clothed with brown scales. Leaves alternate, twice ternately pinnate. Flowers regular, small, white, gathered into a short ovoid raceme which elongates into a cylindrical shape when fruiting. Pedicels thin, usually remaining green when in fruit. Four to six white calyx lobes that fall quickly. Petals are nectaries (staminodia), slightly elongated, usually equal to the ovary or slightly longer, ovate, narrowed into a long claw, ending above with a membranous margin. Fruits black, berry-like, many-seeded. Flowers in May–June, fruits in August–September.

Red-fruited baneberry — Actaea erythrocarpa

Introduced from the forests of the Far East and Siberia; also occurs in Mongolia and North America. Found in coniferous and mixed forests and at their edges. Rhizome thick, shortened. Stems annual, herbaceous, up to 70 см tall, at the base clothed with brown scales, in the upper part covered with short curly hairs. Leaves light green, thrice ternately pinnate, with ovate-lanceolate and acuminate leaflets (the terminal leaflet usually cuneate at the base), margins incised and serrate-toothed. Flowers similar to spiked baneberry. Petal-nectaries slightly elongated, ovate or elliptical, narrowed at the base into a claw. Fruits red, rarely white.

The species forms a well-shaped clump and is especially decorative when fruiting — in August to early September, when bright red fruits ripen. Fruit set is abundant, producing mass self-seeding. The plant is cold-hardy, disease-free, and propagates by seed and by division of the clump in April–May. Very promising for group plantings in shade and partial shade; not demanding regarding soil and moisture.

Location: shade and partial shade. Prefers slightly acidic, loose and fertile soils. Moisture-loving. Winter-hardy, does not require protection.

Soil: not demanding of soils, grows on all more-or-less fertile substrates.

Propagation: by seed and vegetatively. For seed cultivation, a late-autumn (pre-winter) sowing is recommended. For raising seedlings indoors, pre-sowing stratification at 1–3 °C for 2–3 months is required. Germination and maintenance of seedlings occur at a temperature of about 20 °C. Flowering occurs in the 3rd–4th year. Vegetative propagation is simple — division in spring at the beginning of growth. Plants can live for many years without transplanting, but tolerate it easily because they have a shallow rhizome. Best times for transplanting are at the beginning and end of the growing season.