Actaea spicata
Common Names:
in English: baneberry, black cohosh, grape wort, grapewort,
herb Christopher
in China: sheng ma
in India: mamira, pholee, vishaphala
herb Christopher
in China: sheng ma
in India: mamira, pholee, vishaphala
Scientific Names (Synonyms):
- Actaea spicata var. acuminata
Floral Description:
According to Flora of Pakistan
- Perennial erect herb, 30-71(-75) cm high.
- Rootstock thick, ± creeping, producing a terminal flowering stem every year, rarely with several stems at the same time,
- 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.
- Inflorescence arranged in an oblong to ovoid raceme, which may become shortly cylindrical after flowering.
- Sepals small, white rarely purplish outside, concave.
- Petals (nectarines,
called staminodes by some authors) shorter than the ovary or slightly
longer, ovate to elliptical or spathulate, acute or obtuse.
Pharmacological Activities:
- All parts of Actaea spicata are poisonous.
- Berries used for curing asthma and applied locally for skin diseases.
- 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. - Powdered leaves and flowers are insecticide, repellent.
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