red baneberry

(Actaea rubra ssp. rubra)

Conservation Status
red baneberry
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

N5? - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Midwest

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FACU - Facultative upland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Red baneberry is a 18 to 36 tall, erect, perennial forb that rises from a large, thick rhizome.

The stems are erect and hairless.

The leaves are alternate. The lower leaves are on long stalks, the upper leaves on shorter stalks. They are divided into 3 segments, with each segment divided into 3 leaflets. The leaflets are egg-shaped to oblong and may be unlobed or have 1 to 3 lobes. The margins have deep, sharp, irregular teeth. The upper leaflet surface is hairless. The lower surface is usually hairy, at least with hairs along the veins.

The inflorescence is a dense, ball-like cluster on a long stalk with 25 or more flowers rising at the end of the stem or from an upper leaf axil. It is ¾ to 6¾ long and about as wide as long.

The flowers are ¼ wide. There are 4 to 10 white petals which soon fall off leaving 15 to 50 stamens.

The fruit is a nearly globular berry containing several seeds. It is usually red, sometimes white (f. neglecta). When fruiting the pedicels are dull green or brown and slender, thinner than the stalk to which they are attached.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

18 to 36

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

White

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

White baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) leaflet lower surface is usually hairless. The flower clusters are slightly elongated. The berries are white, rarely red. When fruiting the pedicels are bright red and stout, as thick as the stalk to which they are attached.

The form Actaea rubra f. neglecta has white berries.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Moderate moisture. Woods.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

May to June

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

 
  10/25/2021      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Ranunculanae  
 

Order

Ranunculales (buttercups, poppies, and allies)  
 

Family

Ranunculaceae (buttercups)  
  Subfamily Ranunculoideae (anemones, buttercups, larkspurs and allies)  
  Tribe Actaeeae (baneberries, cohoshes, and winter aconites)  
 

Genus

Actaea (baneberries and cohoshes)  
  Section Actaea  
  Species Actaea rubra (red baneberry)  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
       
       
 

Synonyms

 
  Actaea spicata ssp. rubra  
       
 

Common Names

 
 

baneberry

red baneberry

snakeberry

western baneberry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Axil

The upper angle where the leaf stalk meets the stem.

 

Pedicel

On plants: the stalk of a single flower in a cluster of flowers. On insects: the second segment of the antennae. On Hymenoptera and Araneae: the narrow stalk connecting the thorax to the abdomen: the preferred term is petiole.

 

Rhizome

A horizontal, usually underground stem. It serves as a reproductive structure, producing roots below and shoots above at the nodes.

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

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Nancy Falkum

 
 

Baneberry

 
    red baneberry      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Plant

 
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
 

Inflorescence

 
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
 

Flowers

 
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
 

Leaves

 
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
 

Infructescence

 
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
 

White fuit on red baneberry (f. neglecta)

 
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
    red baneberry   red baneberry  
           
    red baneberry   red baneberry  

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
Red Cohosh (Actaea rubra)
Andree Reno Sanborn
  Red Cohosh (Actaea rubra)  

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

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Other Videos
 
  02 Actaea rubra Séquence 4-Vivaces printanières 1 (iPhone et iPod).m4v
Jean Désorcy
 
   
 
About

Uploaded on Jan 9, 2010

L'actée rouge du printemps à l'automne. Red Banberry from spring to fall. Actaea roja de la primavera hasta el otoño.

   
  Red Baneberry
Xan Bonneau
 
   
 
About

Published on May 15, 2013

No description available.

   
  Sweet Cicely and Baneberry
ironDsteele
 
   
 
About

Published on Aug 6, 2013

Part 4 in an ongoing series of documentaries on wild edible, medicinal, and toxic plants. I'm covering "Sweet Cicely" and "Baneberry" with a focus on how to tell them apart from one another. All video footage is recorded by me on the GoPRO Hero 2. Some of the pictures taken from reputable sources on the internet.

Click 6:42 to skip to Baneberry.

   

 

Camera

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this plant.

 
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Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
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  Nancy Falkum
5/14/2018

Location: Bald Eagle Bluff SNA

Baneberry

red baneberry  
  Connie Thompson
7/15/2018

Location: In my flower bed (weed bed) next to my house which is right next to Hwy 34, east of Detroit Lakes, MN about 2 miles.

Missed seeing the flowers but the red berries caught my eye.

 
           
 
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Binoculars

 

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