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 (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.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
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 (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p129
- 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