''Actaea rubra'', the red baneberry or chinaberry, is a poisonous

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 ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Ranunculaceae 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' ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to North America.

Description

It is a perennial herb that grows tall. The leaves are coarsely toothed with deeply lobed margins. Plants commonly have hairy veins on the undersides of the foliage. Each stem will have either three leaves that branch near the top, or will have three compound leaves and one upright flowering stalk from one point on the main central stem. Plants produce one to a few ternately branched stems which bear clusters of flowers having 3 to 5 sepals that are petal-like and obovate in shape and remain after flowering. The petals are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, falling away after flowering is done. They are clawed at the base and long and spatulate to obovate in shape. Flowers have numerous

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 and they are white in color. After flowering green berries are produced. The fruits are ellipsoid shaped berries containing several seeds. In mid to late summer, the berries turn bright red, or white in forma ''neglecta''. The berries also have a black dot on them.

Distribution and habitat

They are found growing in shady areas with moist to wet soils, open forest or dry slopes in much of North America except for Greenland, Nunavut, Mexico, Texas, and the south-eastern United States. In

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

it ranges from the Kenai Peninsula, through Kodiak Island, Bristol Bay, and up the Yukon River.

Ecology

Plants are slow growing and take a few years to grow large enough to flower. The western subspecies is ssp. ''arguta'', and the northern subspecies is ssp. ''rubra''. These subspecies are not well differentiated, and in many locations, each grades in to the other over much of their ranges. The foliage is rarely consumed by grazing animals. The poisonous berries are harmless to birds, the plants' primary seed disperser.

Uses

This plant is grown in shade gardens for its attractive berries and upright clump forming habit. Native Americans have traditionally used the juice from the fruits of various baneberry species to poison arrows.

Toxicity

All parts of the plant are poisonous. However, accidental poisoning is not likely since the berries are extremely bitter. The berries are the most toxic part of the plant. A healthy adult will experience poisoning from as few as six berries. Ingestion of the berries causes nausea, dizziness, increased pulse and severe gastrointestinal discomfort.Ewing, Susan. The Great Alaska Nature Factbook. Portland: Alaska Northwest Books, 1996. The toxins can also have an immediate sedative effect on the cardiac muscle tissue possibly leading to cardiac arrest if introduced into the bloodstream. As few as two berries may be fatal to a child. The fruits and foliage contain

ranunculin Ranunculin is an unstable glucoside found in plants of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). On maceration, for example when the plant is wounded, it is enzymatically broken down into glucose and the toxin protoanemonin Protoanemonin (sometimes ...

, and are often reported to contain

protoanemonin Protoanemonin (sometimes called anemonol or ranunculol) is a toxin found in all plants of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). When the plant is wounded or macerated, the unstable glucoside found in the plant, ranunculin, is enzymatically broken d ...

. The plant also contains

berberine Berberine is a quaternary ammonium salt from the protoberberine group of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids found in such plants as ''Berberis vulgaris'' (barberry), ''Berberis aristata'' (tree turmeric), ''Mahonia aquifolium'' (Oregon grape), ''Hydra ...

. All parts of the plant contain an irritant oil that is most concentrated within the roots and berries. The roots contain

β-sitosterol β-sitosterol (beta-sitosterol) is one of several phytosterols (plant sterols) with chemical structures similar to that of cholesterol. It is a white, waxy powder with a characteristic odor, and is one of the components of the food additive E499. ...

glucoside A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is hydrolysed by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes. The name was o ...

. There have been no reported cases of severe poisoning or deaths in North America, but children have been fatally poisoned by its European relative '' A. spicata''. It is claimed that poisoning is unlikely from eating the fruits of this species also. This plant closely resembles mountain sweetroot (''

Osmorhiza chilensis ''Osmorhiza berteroi'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common name mountain sweet cicely. Systematics ''Osmorhiza berteroi'' forms a species complex together with '' O. depauperata'' and '' O. purpurea''. Un ...

''), and can be confused with it; however, red baneberry lacks the strong anise-like "spicy celery" odor of mountain sweetroot. The following illustrates a non-fatal case of experimental self-intoxication produced by the ingestion of fruit from ''Actaea rubra''. The onset of symptoms began within 30 minutes.

References

External links

Actaea rubra subspecies arguta (Red Baneberry)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2823800 rubra Flora of Western Canada Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Alaska Flora of Illinois Flora of Iowa Flora of Kansas Flora of Minnesota Flora of Nebraska Flora of New Mexico Flora of North Dakota Flora of South Dakota Flora of Wisconsin Flora of the Northwest Territories Flora of Yukon Plants used in traditional Native American medicine