Map Snapshot
21 Records
Status
According to MD DNR Mountain Bugbane is an endemic of the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. The few populations of Mountain Bugbane that are found in Maryland are restricted to a small area of rich montane forests in Garrett County.
Description
Mountain Bugbane flowers in August. Mountain Bugbane is very similar to the more common Black Baneberry. Both plants have tall narrow spikes of white flowers. According to Weakley (2015) the two species can be told apart by looking at the petioles of the basal leaves: Mountain Bugbane has a deep broad groove that runs the length of the petiole while the petiole of Black Baneberry has no groove. The other Actaea species White Baneberry has a smaller spike of white flower that is more rounded than long. The mature fruit of White Baneberry is bright white while the fruit of Mountain Bugbane and Black Baneberry are black when mature.
Seasonality Snapshot
Source: Wikipedia
| Actaea podocarpa | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Actaea |
| Species: | A. podocarpa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Actaea podocarpa | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Cimicifuga americana | |
Actaea podocarpa, the mountain bugbane[2] or mountain black-cohosh, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is found in the Appalachian Mountains,[1] with a disjunct population in Illinois. It is found in rich, mesic forests often in boulder-strewn coves.[3]
Actaea podocarpa is a large perennial herb. It is one of the later flowering of the eastern Actaea, producing white flowers in summer through fall.
Both it and Actaea rubifolia bear resemblance to black cohosh, which, due to its vasodilation properties, is valuable for the treatment of menopause symptoms; harvesters of black cohosh sometimes mistake A. podocarpa for black cohosh, accidentally harvesting it.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ NRCS. "Actaea podocarpa". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ "Flora of North America".
- ^ Churchill, John B.; Brosi, Sunshine; Howell, James. "Risk Assessment to State Rare Mountain Bugbane in Western Maryland" (PDF).
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