Actaea Ranunculaceae 457 



Betula lutea stage and where some of the sphagnum still remained. This 

 plant was used in medicine. 



Lab. to Alaska, southw. to Md. and Iowa, and in the mts. to N. C. and 

 Tenn. 



2537. ACTAfiA L. Baneberry 

 [Mackenzie. White-fruited Bane-berries. Torreya 28 : 51-53. 1928.] 



Pedicels stout, generally 3-9 mm long in flower; fruit white (sometimes purplish red 



but this form not yet reported from Indiana) ; largest seed nearly 5 mm long; 



leaves glabrous beneath or sometimes with a few hairs on the veins near the axils. 



1. A. alba. 



Pedicels slender, generally 5-11 mm long in flower; fruit cherry red; largest seed 

 nearly 4 mm long; leaves with a few scattered hairs on the midrib and lateral 

 veins beneath 2. A. rubra. 



1. Actaea alba (L.) Mill. White Baneberry. Map 938. 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. 



N. S., e. Que. to Minn., southw. to Ga. and Mo. 



2. Actaea rubra (Ait.) Willd. Red Baneberry. Map 939. This species 

 is very local in a few of our northern counties. I found a single specimen 

 in a low woods in Lagrange County and it is rather frequent on a springy, 

 wooded terrace in the east side of Pokagon State Park. It has been re- 

 ported from Noble County. A specimen from St. Joseph County is in the 

 herbarium of the University of Notre Dame. There is a report from 

 Tippecanoe County which could also be correct. The reports by Phinney 

 from central-eastern Indiana and the report from Jefferson County are 

 open to question. I believe these reports should be referred to the red- 

 fruited form of the preceding species since they come from south of the 

 general range of distribution and the habitat of Actaea rubra, although 

 there were cold springy areas about 4 miles southeast of Richmond. It is 

 regrettable that our early authors did not preserve specimens to validate 

 their reports. These reports would be very interesting if they could be 

 authoritatively interpreted. 



Lab. to S. Dak., southw. to N. J., Pa., Tenn., and Nebr. 



2537A. CIMIClFUGA L. 



1. Cimicifuga racemosa (L.) Nutt. Black Cohosh. Map 940. Local 

 to very local on wooded slopes in the southern counties. I have also found 

 it on the wooded bank of Cedar Creek in Allen County. Outside the area 

 indicated on the map, Coulter reported it from Kosciusko, Shelby, and 

 Tippecanoe Counties, Higley & Raddin reported it from Pine, Lake County, 

 and Schneck reported it from the Lower Wabash Valley and says: "Once 

 common, now almost extinct." The plant is so conspicuous that if it was 

 at all frequent I would have found it elsewhere in southern Indiana. The 



