IRbodora 
JOURNAL OF 
THE NEW ENGLAND BOTANICAL CLUB 
Vol. 5 March, 1903 No. 51 
AN EXPERIMENT WITH THE FRUIT OF RED 
BANEBERRY. 
ALICE E. Bacon. 
SOME years ago several plants of the red baneberry (Actaea 
spicata, var. rubra, Ait.) were transplanted to’ a sheltered spot in 
Bradford, Vermont, along the base of a veranda facing the east, and 
shaded by maples. The situation proving favorable, the plants each 
year have been very ornamental, being of unusual size and producing 
very large clusters of fruit. The graceful, lace-like leaves and the 
vivid crimson of the berries attract a great deal of attention, and the 
questions are often asked: “Where did you get such beautiful 
plants?” “What can they be?” and “Aren’t those berries good to 
Ye die 
An examination of several works on Materia Medica failed to 
show anything as to the properties of the red-berried species, 
although those of the white-berried were carefully noted. In the fear 
that children, attracted by the beauty of the fruit, might eat to their 
own undoing, an experiment in the qualities of the berries was 
entered upon with the following result. | 
A small dose was taken after the mid-day meal, as caution seemed 
advisable; but the only effect noted was a slight burning in the 
stomach. The question, however, of children eating the forbidden 
fruit was definitely settled at once, as no child, youth, sane adult, 
not even a hungry school-boy would ever devour it from deliberate 
choice ; the taste is most nauseous, bitter, puckery ; indeed, several 
even more drastic adjectives might be applied with perfect truth. 
Having survived the first attempt, the experimenter hopefully tried 
again two days later, allowing time for the first dose to be completely 
