Actaea racemosa (Black snakeroot)

Actaea racemosa L.

Black snakeroot, black baneberry, black bugbane, black cohosh, fairy candle

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Magnoliidae	Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others
Order	Ranunculales	Basal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots”
Family	Ranunculaceae	Buttercup family
Genus	Actaea	From ancient Greek, signifying a wet habitat and its leaves’ similarity to Sambucus leaves
Species	racemosa	Latin for "has a raceme," or flower spike (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)

About plant names...

Black snakeroot is native to eastern North America.

Identification: Plants reach 10-24" (25-60 cm). On all of the baneberries, leaves often occur in groups of three, on thin stems, and are saw-toothed. White flowers form on tall stalks up to 8' (2.5 m) in height, with the flowering portions up to 20" (50 cm) tall.

Don’t confuse black snakeroot with the unrelated plant, Canadian black snakeroot. Both of these plants are found in eastern Canada and the eastern United States.

7/6/2013 · Mike and Ellen’s, Shohola, Pennsylvania
≈ 7 × 10" (16 × 25 cm)

1/19/2021 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts

Some similar plants:

	You are here Actaea racemosa	*Actaea rubifolia*	*Sanicula canadensis*
Common Name	black snakeroot	Appalachian bugbane	Canadian black snakeroot
Plant	Plants reach 10-24" (25-60 cm).	Plants are 12-55" (30-140 cm) tall.	Plants are 12-24" (30-60 cm) high. Stems are light green, sometimes furrowed.
Flowers	White flowers form on tall stalks up to 8' (2.5 m) in height, with the flowering portions up to 20" (50 cm) tall.	White flowers form long, attractive, feathery-looking spikes 6-24" (15-60 cm) long, straight or slightly curved. Individual flowers have 5 sepals and are about ⅜" (9.5 mm) in diameter.	Small clusters, greenish-white, not especially interesting.
Leaves	Leaves often occur in groups of three, on thin stems, and are saw-toothed.	Toothed, shaped like maple leaves. Leaflets are 6-12" (15-30 cm) long.	In groups of three, and are less than 3" (7.6 cm) long.
Fruit	Black or dark brown seeds.	Fruits are ⅛" (3 mm) around, and reddish brown.	Seed pods are about ½" (1.3 cm) in diameter, and resemble burrs, with small hooks.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Rich soils in moist woods, ravines		Rich woods, open rocky woods, thickets
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild
Occurrence	Common	Endangered	Common

Edibility: Most members of the buttercup family, including other species of Actaea, are poisonous. Though black snakeroot is not considered a strong poison, its use for medicinal purposes is not adequately supported or refuted by scientific studies. (See the Wikipedia article below, or this article from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.) Liver damage has been reported in a few cases.

Online References:

Actaea racemosa on Wikipedia

Actaea racemosa on Discover Life

Actaea racemosa on the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (PDF)

Actaea racemosa var. racemosa at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Actaea racemosa at the Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

7/6/2013 · Mike and Ellen’s, Shohola, Pennsylvania
≈ 5 × 8" (13 × 19 cm)

Actaea racemosa description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 16 Sep 2020.

7/6/2013 · Mike and Ellen’s, Shohola, Pennsylvania
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 21 cm)

5/22/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts
≈ 3½ × 2½' (1.2 × 0.8 m)

Range:

About this map...