Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Actaea pachypoda
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read about Actaea and Cimicifuga from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more about Doll's-eyes from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Actaea pachypoda
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Actaea pachypoda
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-08-001:
Actaea pachypoda FAMILY Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (PROBABLY MISAPPLIED) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Actaea alba
COMMON NAME:
Doll's-eyes, White Baneberry, White Cohosh
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_acal7_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm230322_2001
March Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm230325_2067
March Pickens County SC
Laurel Fork Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_actaea_pachypoda_c
March
Sepals and petals drop early, stamens numerous, stigma wider than ovulary, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
Ed Pivorun ebp090404_4904
April Walker County GA
The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain
)
JK Marlow jkm150412_288
April Pickens County SC
Laurel Fork Heritage Preserve
The petals are clawed, cleft apically, and early deciduous, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm150412_294
April Pickens County SC
Laurel Fork Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm150423_586
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Perennial to 80cm tall with 2 large compound leaves, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
COMPARE
Cohosh, Doll's-eyes, and Goatsbeard
)
JK Marlow jkm190412_7246
April Rabun County GA
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_actaea_pachypoda_4
April
Small white flowers borne in a compact raceme extending above the leaves, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm060508_100
May Macon County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District
Four to five caducous sepals [that is, they fall off early or prematurely], per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm060508_115
May Macon County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm120506_396
May Rabun County GA
Chattahoochee National Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm0407n_25
July Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm0407n_26
July Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Leaves readily distinguishable by swellings at the tips of the leaflets, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
JK Marlow jkm100730_169
July Jackson County NC
Balsam Mountain Preserve
White berries with purplish black "eye" on thick fleshy pink pedicels, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm100730_169b
July Jackson County NC
Balsam Mountain Preserve
Fruiting pedicels very stout, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm100730_171
July Jackson County NC
Balsam Mountain Preserve
)
JK Marlow s040713_a
July Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Actaea, Astilbe, Aruncus, Caulophyllum, & Aralia can be difficult to distinguish.
COMPARE
compound leaves of woodland herbs, with toothed margins
)
JK Marlow s040713_b
July Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm170818_668
August Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
Will Stuart wil1239848018_1a484a40d0
August Swain County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway/Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The fruit resembles the porcelain eyes once used in dolls, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
COMPARE
fruits that are an aggregate of berries
)
JK Marlow jkm0310g_30
October Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
The fruit is poisonous, per Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Actaea pachypoda
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Actaea pachypoda
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Actaea pachypoda
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-08-001:
Actaea pachypoda
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (PROBABLY MISAPPLIED)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Actaea alba
24
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Rich cove forests and slopes, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains (uncommon in NC Piedmont, rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Complexly compound, with 2+ levels of pinnate and/or ternate compoundness
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
White
4-5 sepals
3-7 petals
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Aggregate of berries
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p099
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p042
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p129
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p136
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p424
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p214
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p013
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p073
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p300
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p032
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p053
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p325
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p050
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