Actaea pachypoda

Leaf blade: leaflets abaxially ± glabrous. Inflorescences at anthesis often longer than wide, short-cylindric. Flowers: petals truncate or cleft, often antherlike at apex; stigma sessile, 1.5-2.8 mm diam. during anthesis, as broad as or broader than ovary. Berries white, very rarely red, widely ellipsoid to nearly globose, 6.5-9 mm; pedicel bright red, stout, (0.7-)0.9-2.2(-3) mm diam., ± as thick as axis of raceme. Seeds 3.4-4.5 mm. 2 n = 16.

Flowering spring-early summer. Deciduous forests, less often with pines, junipers, or other conifers; 0-1200 m; N.B., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Red- and pink-berried plants have been called Actaea pachypoda forma rubrocarpa (Killip) Fernald or A . ludovicii Boivin. Some of these plants are intermediate in morphology between A . pachypoda and A . rubra ; they may be of hybrid origin. The sterility of fruits in many such plants lends support to this theory (R. S. Mitchell and J. K. Dean 1982).

Actaea pachypoda has been called A . alba (Linnaeus) Miller in some manuals (e.g., H. A. Gleason and A. Cronquist 1991; S. M. Walters et al. 1984+, vol. 3; Great Plains Flora Association 1986). Other authors (e.g., M. L. Fernald 1940; C. S. Keener 1977) have argued that the name A . alba is based on an illustration that is conspecific with the type of the European A . spicata Linnaeus and does not apply to plants here called A . pachypoda .

Native Americans prepared infusions from Actaea pachypoda to use medicinally as a gargle or throat aid (D. E. Moerman 1986).

Stem 4-8 dm; lfls ovate or ovate-oblong, usually glabrous beneath; raceme short at anthesis, with congested fls, later elongate; pet 2.5-4 mm, mostly spatulate; stigma sessile, wider than the ovary; fruiting pedicels red, 1-2 mm thick; berries ellipsoid-globose, 1 cm, white, rarely red, with persistent stigma; 2n=16. Rich woods; e. Que. to Ont. and Minn., s. to Ga., La., and Okla. May-June. (A. pachypoda)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

Frequent to very frequent throughout the state in rich woods. There is a red-fruited form of this species which has not been reported from Indiana but may have been found and reported as Actaea rubra. The rhizomes of this and the following species were formerly much used in medicine.

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Indiana Coefficient of Conservatism: C = 7

Wetland Indicator Status: FACU

Diagnostic Traits: Leaves ternately compound; raceme inflorescence; sepals and petals dropping quickly, stamens numerous with white filaments; fleshy fruits white, borne on thick pedicels that become red.