Actaea (baneberry or bugbane) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

The genus is closely related to Cimicifuga and Souliea, and some botanists include that genus within Actaea (e.g. Compton et al. 1998); 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. The genus is treated here in its narrow sense, comprising four to eight species.

Selected species

• Actaea asiatica
• Actaea pachypoda - White Baneberry, White Cohosh, Doll's Eyes
• Actaea rubra (syn. Actaea erythrocarpa) - Red Baneberry
• Actaea spicata (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 of the Dot Moth.

Image:Actaea-pachypoda.jpg|Actaea pachypoda (White Baneberry)

References

• Compton, J. A., Culham, A. & Jury, S. L. (1998). Reclassification of Actaea to include Cimicifuga and Souliea (Ranunculaceae): Phylogeny inferred from morphology,nrDNA ITS, and cpDNA trnL-F sequence variation. Taxon 47: 593–634.
• Fernald, M. L. 1940. What is Actaea alba? Rhodora 42: 260-265.
• Hoffman, M. H. 1999. The phylogeny of Actaea (Ranunculaceae): a biogeographical approach. Pl. Syst. Evol. 216: 251–263.
• Lee, H.-W. & Park, C.-W. (2004). New Taxa of Cimicifuga (Ranunculaceae) from Korea and the United States. Novon 14: 180–184 (available online (pdf file).
• Wang, W. T., Li, L.-Q. & Wang, Z. (1999). Notulae de Ran-unculaceis Sinensibus XXIII. Acta Phytotax. Sin. 37: 209–219.

External links

• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Actaea (treats genus in broad sense)
• Flora of China: Actaea (treats genus in narrow sense)
• Flora of North America: Actaea (treats genus in narrow sense)

Eclectic herbal information

• Actaea alba (White Cohosh) King's American Dispensatory @ Henriette's Herbal
• Cimicifuga racemosa (Black Cohosh, Macrotys) King's American Dispensatory @ Henriette's Herbal
• Baneberry Mrs. Grieve's "A Modern Herbal" @ Botanical.com
• Cohosh, Black Mrs. Grieve's "A Modern Herbal" @ Botanical.com

Herbal information

• Cimicifuga (Actea) racemosa (Black Cohosh) HerbMed
• Black Cohosh (pdf) Longwood Herbal Task Force
• Black Cohosh Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre

Homeopathic information

• Actaea racemosa (act-r.)(cimic.) "Kent's Lectures on Homeopathic Materia Medica" by Dr Robert Séror
• Actaea spicta (act-sp.) "A Primer of Materia Medica for practitioners of Homœopathy" by Timothy Allen

Ranunculales

Druemunke | Juodžolė | Actaea | Actaea