''Actaea elata''''Actaea elata''.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).''Actaea elata''.
USDA PLANTS Profile.''Actaea elata''.
NatureServe. 2012. (

syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

''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 of North America, where it can be found in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.

Description

This species is a rhizomatous

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 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 leaves in shape. The inflorescence 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 sepals, 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''), western redcedar (''Thuja plicata''), red alder (''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'', commonly known as ocean spray or oceanspray, creambush, or ironwood, is a shrub of western North America. Description ''Holodiscus discolor'' is a fast-growing deciduous shrub usually from to in height, and up to ta ...

(''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 Sword fern is a common name for several ferns and may refer to: *''Nephrolepis'', a tropical genus of ferns, especially: **''Nephrolepis exaltata'', commonly cultivated as a houseplant, including the Boston fern *''Polystichum'', a cosmopolitan gen ...

(''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'', commonly known as herb-Robert, or (in North America) Roberts geranium, is a common species of cranesbill native to Europe and parts of Asia, and North Africa. The plant has many vernacular names, including red robin, de ...

''(Geranium robertianum)'', and

wall lettuce ''Lactuca muralis'', the wall lettuce, is a perennial flowering plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae, also referred to as ''Mycelis muralis''.Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. ''Webb's An Irish Flora''. Cork University Press ...

''(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 bumblebees, other types of

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

s, beetles, and

syrphid flies Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while ...

.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 outdoor ...

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