42 

 WHITE BANEBERRY (Actaea alba [L.] Mill.) BUTTERCUP FAMILY. 



COMMON NAMES : Other names given to the white baneberry are coral 

 and pearls, white beads, necklace-weed, white berry. 



DESCRIPTION: The white baneberry is a perennial herb with large, 

 wide-spreading, compound leaves. The very small white flowers are 

 arranged in an oblong cluster at the end of the stalk. The flower cluster 

 elongates as the fruit forms, sometimes reaching a length of three to four 

 inches. The berries are about half an inch long and nearly as wide, bright 

 white with a black spot at the end. The berry stalks are about as long 

 as the berry and become thickened with maturity, turning a rich ml. 

 slightly swollen at each end like broken bits of the common red coral. At 

 this stage they are very attractive and tempting, especially to children. 

 The plant is in bloom in April and May, a week or two later than the red 

 baneberry. 



DISTRIBUTION: This species of Actaea is a native of Canada, and is 

 found in rich woods in the eastern provinces, tending to spread westward. 



POISONOUS PROPERTIES: The white baneberry is a variety of tin- 

 European species, A. spicata L. of which Hill says in his Herbal (p. 320) 

 that children who have eaten the fruit have died in convulsions. 



SYMPTOMS: The European baneberry, A. spicata L. is classified in 

 the group of plants containing poisons which act upon the heart, of which 

 group A. B. Smith gives the following symptoms: numbness and tingling 

 in the mouth, abdominal pain, vertigo, purging, tremor, occasional 

 delirium, paralysis, dyspnoea, ending in syncope. 



REMEDY: Warn children against eating unknown fruits in the woods. 

 Should poisoning occur, the usual emetic may be given and the advice of 

 a doctor obtained as soon as possible. 



RED BANEBERRY (Actaea rubra [Ait,] Willd.) BUTTERCUP FAMILY. 



PLATE XVI. 



COMMON NAMES: The red baneberry is also known as the poison-berry r 

 snake-berry, toadroot, herb-christopher. 



DESCRIPTION: Like the white baneberry, this plant is a perennial 

 with large, wide-spreading compound leaves, but the leaflets are thicker 

 and more coarsely toothed. The cluster of small white flowers is nearly 

 as wide as it is high. The flower stalks are slender and do not become 

 thickened in fruit. The berries are about half an inch long, widest in the 

 centre, brilliantly cherry-coloured, becoming slightly darker. There is a 

 white-berried form (Forma neglecta, A. neglecta Gillman) (plate xvi.), 

 common at Rockliffe, Ottawa, and not rare in other places, which at first 



