WILD FLOWERS OF NEW YORK 103 



name that might distinguish her among your genera." Linnaeus, however, 

 referred the plant to his genus Helleborus, and when it was subsequently- 

 ascertained to be distinct, Salisbury, regardless alike of gallantry and 

 justice, imposed on it the name of Coptis. 



Red Baneberry; Black Cohosh 



Actual rubra (Aiton) Willdenow 



Plate 62 



Stems erect, i to 2 feet high, from a perennial root, pubescent or 

 smooth. Leaves ternately divided, the divisions pinnate with the lower 

 ultimate leaflets sometimes again compound ; leaflets ovate or the terminal 

 ones obovate, toothed or more or less cleft or incised with pointed or 

 rounded teeth. Flowers small in a dense terminal, ovoid raceme; sepals 

 three to five, petaloid and fugacious. Petals four to ten, spatulate, shorter 

 than the numerous white stamens; pedicels slender, one-half to two-thirds 

 of an inch long. Fruit consisting of a raceme of bright-red, oval or 

 ellipsoid berries, each berry about one-half of an inch long. 



In w T oods, thickets and shaded banks, Nova Scotia to New Jersey and 

 Pennsylvania, west to South Dakota and Nebraska. Flowering from April 

 to early June. A variety with red berries on slender pedicles (Actaea 

 n e g 1 e c t a Gillman) is occasionally found. 



White Baneberry; Snakeroot 



Actaea alba (Linnaeus) Miller 



Plate 63b 



Resembling the Red Baneberry in general habit and aspect. Leaflets 

 usually more cut and the teeth and lobes sharply pointed. Flowers in 

 oblong racemes; petals truncate at the apex; fruiting pedicels as thick as 

 the peduncle or in fruit even thicker, with swollen ends, often reddish; 

 berries short-oval, white, sometimes purplish at the ends. A variety with 

 berries on thickened pedicels is occasionally seen. 



In rich woods, Nova Scotia to Georgia, west to Minnesota and Mis- 

 souri. Flowering in April and May or as late as the middle of June. 



