Actaea (plant) explained

Actaea, commonly called baneberry, bugbane and cohosh, is a genus of flowering plants of the family Ranunculaceae, native to subtropical, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America.

Taxonomy

The genus was redefined to include Cimicifuga and Souliea in the 1990s[1] (Compton et al. 1998, Compton & Culham 2002, Gao et al. 2006, RHS Plant Finder, 2007) based on combined evidence from DNA sequence data, similarity in biochemical constituents and on morphology returning it to the original Linnean concept of the genus.[2] The number of species in Actaea is to 25–30 using this concept. Other botanists (e.g., Hoffman 1999, Wang et al. 1999, Lee & Park 2004, Wang et al. 2009) reject this merger because only one group (Actaea) have fleshy fruit while the remainder have dry fruit. However, this narrower generic concept works for only a single morphological character and other characters such as number of carpels moves the generic boundary. The genus is treated here in its broader sense.

Species

Plants of the World Online currently (2023) includes:[3]

  1. Actaea arizonica (S.Watson) J.Compton  - Arizona bugbane
  2. Actaea asiatica H.Hara
  3. Actaea austrokoreana (H.W.Lee & C.W.Park) Cubey
  4. Actaea bifida (Nakai) J.Compton
  5. Actaea biternata (Siebold & Zucc.) Prantl
  6. Actaea brachycarpa (P.K.Hsiao) J.Compton
  7. Actaea cimicifuga L.
  8. Actaea cordifolia DC.
  9. Actaea dahurica (Turcz. ex Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Franch. (syn. Cimicifuga dahurica) - Sheng ma in Chinese
  10. Actaea elata (Nutt.) Prantl
  11. Actaea erythrocarpa (Fisch.) Kom.
  12. Actaea europaea (Schipcz.) J.Compton
  13. Actaea frigida (Royle) Prantl
  14. Actaea heracleifolia (Kom.) J.Compton
  15. Actaea japonica Thunb.
  16. Actaea kashmiriana (J.Compton & Hedd.) J.Compton
  17. Actaea laciniata (S.Watson) J.Compton
  18. Actaea lancifoliolata (X.F.Pu & M.R.Jia) J.P.Luo, Q.Yuan & Q.E.Yang
  19. Actaea × ludovicii B.Boivin
  20. Actaea matsumurae (Nakai) J.Compton & Hedd.  - Kamchatka bugbane, Japanese bugbane
  21. Actaea muliensis J.P.Luo, Q.E.Yang & Q.Yuan
  22. Actaea nanchuanensis (P.K.Hsiao) J.P.Luo, Q.Yuan & Q.E.Yang
  23. Actaea pachypoda Elliott  - white baneberry, white cohosh, doll's eyes
  24. Actaea podocarpa DC.
  25. Actaea purpurea (P.K.Hsiao) J.Compton
  26. Actaea racemosa L.  - black cohosh, black bugbane
  27. Actaea rubifolia (Kearney) Kartesz
  28. Actaea rubra (Aiton) Willd. (syn. Actaea erythrocarpa)  - red baneberry
  29. Actaea simplex (DC.) Wormsk. ex Prantl
  30. Actaea spicata L. (syn. Actaea alba)  - baneberry, herb christopher - type species
  31. Actaea taiwanensis J.Compton, Hedd. & T.Y.Yang
  32. Actaea vaginata (Maxim.) J.Compton
  33. Actaea yunnanensis (P.K.Hsiao) J.Compton

Etymology

Actaea is derived from the Greek name for elder (Sambucus); it was named by Pliny because the leaves of Actaea and Sambucus are similar in appearance.[4]

The name Actaea alba (L.) Mill. is a confused one (Fernald 1940); although described as an American species (now named A. pachypoda), the illustration on which the description was based was actually a picture of the European A. spicata, and strictly, the name is therefore a synonym of the European species. Some texts, however, still treat A. pachypoda under this name.

Use and toxicity

Baneberry contains cardiac toxins that can have an immediate sedative effect on human cardiac muscle. The berries are the most poisonous part of the plant (hence the name baneberry). Children have been poisoned by eating the waxy, shiny red or white berries. Ingestion of the berries can lead to cardiac arrest and death. It is toxic to rabbits.[5] The berries are harmless to birds, the plant's primary seed disperser.

The synonym Cimicifuga, meaning 'bed bug repellent', has traditional uses: for example, in pharmacology, Cimicifugae rhizoma is a herbal medicine Sheng ma, a Chinese preparation which may be extracted from the roots of A. dahurica and A. heracleifolia. The roots of A. rubra contain β-sitosterol glucoside.[6]

Actaea species are in the same subfamily as plants in the genus Aconitum, a highly toxic plant genus which contains wolfbane and several varieties of monkshood.[7]

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. 10.2307/1223580 . 1223580 . Reclassification of Actaea to include Cimicifuga and Souliea (Ranunculaceae): Phytogeny inferred from morphology, nrDNA ITS, and cpDNA trnL-F sequence variation . Taxon . 47 . 3 . 593–634 . 1998 . Compton . James A. . Culham . Alastair . Jury . Stephen L.. free .
  2. 10.1043/0363-6445-27.3.502 . 3093958. 31 January 2024 . Phylogeny and Circumscription of Tribe Actaeeae (Ranunculaceae) . Systematic Botany . 27 . 3 . 502–511 . Compton . James A. . Culham . Alastair . 2002.
  3. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn%3Alsid%3Aipni.org%3Anames%3A33043-1 Plants of the World Online: Actaea L. (retrieved 7 October 2023)
  4. Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). p 35
  5. http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/Toxic_plants_en.pdf Camilla Bergstrøm. Feeding rabbits: Toxic plants
  6. Ali . Zulfiqar . Khan . Shabana . Khan . Ikhlas . 31141951 . Phytochemical Study of Actaea rubra and Biological Screenings of Isolates . 10.1055/s-2006-951696 . Planta Medica . 2006 . 72 . 1350–2 . 14 . 17024608.
  7. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford,

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