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Baneberry, black cohosh, grape wort, grapewort, Actaea spicata

Actaea spicata

Common Names:
in English: baneberry, black cohosh, grape wort, grapewort,
herb Christopher
in China: sheng ma
in India: mamira, pholee, vishaphala

Scientific Names (Synonyms):
  1. Actaea spicata var. acuminata (Wall. ex Royle) H.Hara
  2. Actaea spicata var. alba L. 
  3. Actaea spicata var. arguta (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Torr. 
  4. Actaea spicata f. arguta (Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray) Huth 
  5. Actaea spicata subsp. arguta (Nutt.) Hultén 
  6. Actaea spicata subsp. arguta (Nutt.) A.E. Murray 
  7. Actaea spicata var. asiatica (Hara) S.H.Li & Y.H.Huang 
  8. Actaea spicata var. dissecta (Britton) K.C.Davis 
  9. Actaea spicata var. erythrocarpa Fisch. 
  10. Actaea spicata subsp. erythrocarpa (Fisch.) Krylov 
  11. Actaea spicata var. melanocarpa Ledeb. 
  12. Actaea spicata var. rubra Aiton 
  13. Actaea spicata subsp. rubra (Aiton) Hultén

Floral Description:
According to Flora of Pakistan
  1. Perennial erect herb, 30-71(-75) cm high. 
  2. Rootstock thick, ± creeping, producing a terminal flowering stem every year, rarely with several stems at the same time, 
  3. leaves 2(-3) pinnate, a single basal leaf present in the young plant, later with cauline leaves; ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute, acuminate, irregularly dentate to ± regularly serrate-dentate; glabrous or slightly hairy along the veins on the lower surface.
  4.  Inflorescence arranged in an oblong to ovoid raceme, which may become shortly cylindrical after flowering.
  5.  Sepals small, white rarely purplish outside, concave. 
  6. Petals (nectarines, called staminodes by some authors) shorter than the ovary or slightly longer, ovate to elliptical or spathulate, acute or obtuse. 
Pharmacological Activities:
  1. All parts of Actaea spicata are poisonous. 
  2. Berries used for curing asthma and applied locally for skin diseases. 
  3. Root antispasmodic, cytostatic, emetic, nervine and purgative, a rheumatic remedy, used in the treatment of goiter and asthma, nervous disorders and rheumatic fever, snakebite, especially
    of the rattlesnake. 
  4. Powdered leaves and flowers are insecticide, repellent.
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