''Actaea elata''''Actaea elata''.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).''Actaea elata''.
USDA PLANTS Profile.''Actaea elata''.
NatureServe. 2012. ( syn. ''Cimicifuga elata'')''Cimicifuga elata''.
Burke Museum of History and Culture. University of Washington. 2013.''Cimicifuga elata''.
Flora of North America. is a species of flowering plant in the

buttercup family Ranunculaceae (buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 species), ''Delphinium' ...

known by the common name tall bugbane. It is native to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

of North America, where it can be found in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Description

This species is a

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

reaching a maximum height around 1.8 meters. It is hairy in texture, with some glandular hairs. The leaves are made up of many lobed, toothed leaflets which resemble

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

leaves in shape. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a branching

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

up to 17 centimeters long. The panicle bears many flowers, each with five white or pink-tinged

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s, but no petals. The flower presents a spray of long white

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. Blooming occurs from May''Cimicifuga elata''.
Washington Natural Heritage Program. Washington Department of Natural Resources. 1998. or June to August. The fruit is a flattened follicle up to 1.2 centimeters long. The fruits are poisonous.Ellison, R
Plant Propagation Protocol for ''Actaea elata''.
University of Washington. April 18, 2012. The plant has an unpleasant scent.Foster, S. and C. Hobbs. ''Peterson Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs''. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. New York, NY. 2002. pg. 41.

Habitat

This species grows in moist woods and forest habitat. It is mostly restricted to lower elevations and is more common on north-facing slopes. It is associated with the forest trees

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

(''Pseudotsuga menziesii''),

bigleaf maple ''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are al ...

(''Acer macrophyllum''),

western redcedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, w ...

(''Thuja plicata''),

red alder ''Alnus rubra'', the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America (Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana). Description Red alder is the largest species of alder in North A ...

(''Alnus rubra''), and

vine maple ''Acer circinatum'', the vine maple, is a species of maple native to western North America. Description It most commonly grows as a large shrub growing to around tall, but it will occasionally form a small to medium-sized tree, exceptionall ...

(''Acer circinatum''), and other forest plants such as oceanspray (''Holodiscus discolor''),

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...

(''Corylus cornuta''), sword fern (''Polystichum munitum''), and

snowberry ''Symphoricarpos'', commonly known as the snowberry, waxberry, or ghostberry, is a small genus of about 15 species of deciduous shrubs in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. With the exception of the Chinese coralberry, '' S. sinensis'', whi ...

(''Symphoricarpos albus''). Alpine enchanter's nightshade ''(Circaea alpina)'', herb robert ''(Geranium robertianum)'', and wall lettuce ''(Lactuca muralis)'' are

indicator species A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...

for the plant, often growing alongside it.Mayberry, R. J. and E. Elle. (2009)
Effects of forest structure and microhabitat on the distribution and flowering of a rare understory plant, ''Actaea elata''.
''Forest Ecology and Management'' 258(7) 1102-09. This species can dominate the forest understory where it is common.Helliwell, R
Tall Bugbane (''Cimicifuga elata'') Inventory in Douglas County, Oregon.
Report to the Interagency Special Status/Sensitive Species Program. FY2010 Inventory & Conservation Planning Project. January, 2011. The plant may be found in

old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

s. It prefers the shade of dense forests. It can tolerate some breaks in the canopy but not large-scale clearing, such as

clearcutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fore ...

. Some penetrating sunlight is beneficial for the plant during its reproductive season. Animals associated with the species include the

mountain beaver The mountain beaver (''Aplodontia rufa'')Other names include mountain boomer, ground bear, giant mole, gehalis, lesser sasquatch, sewellel, suwellel, showhurll, showtl, and showte, as well as a number of Chinookan and other Native American terms ...

(''Aplodontia rufa''), particularly in Canada. Depending on location,

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s of the plant include

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

s, other types of bees, beetles, and syrphid flies.Klinkenberg, B. and R. Klinkenberg
A Recovery Strategy for Tall Bugbane (''Cimicifuga elata'') in Canada.
BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection. March 31, 2003.

Distribution

This species has a limited distribution in its range. Most occurrences are in southern Oregon, where the populations can be large. There are fewer occurrences in Washington. In British Columbia, the plant is only known from the far southern regions of the province, near the

Chilliwack River Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoo ...

.Klinkenberg, Brian, Ed. 2013
''Actaea elata''.
E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. It is considered an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

in British Columbia.Tall Bugbane.
Stewardship Centre for British Columbia. There are ten known populations in British Columbia, making up less than 5% of the global population of the plant. In 2004 a new

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of the species was named and defined, var. ''alpestris''. This variety is endemic to southern Oregon and it differs from other members of its species by having scales along the lower stem, and often more

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

s. It may also be found at higher elevations.Lee, H. and C. Park. (2004)
New taxa of ''Cimicifuga'' (Ranunculaceae) from Korea and the United States.
''Novon'' 14 180-84. Threats to this species include processes that threaten its home ecosystems, such as the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Fire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated a ...

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

, road maintenance, and other forest disturbance, collection from the wild, and damage to pollinator populations can harm occurrences of the plant.

References

{{Authority control

elata Elata is a Greek village on the island of Chios. The village is situated on hilly terrain and has a population of several hundred. Elata Elata became a village hundreds of years ago when seven tribes came together to protect themselves from Tur ...

Flora of British Columbia Flora of Washington (state) Flora of Oregon