Conserving and restoring at risk species and ecosystems on the BC South Coast
Tall Bugbane
Actaea elata var. elata
A member of the family Ranunculaceae (“buttercups”), this species was formerly identified under the genus Cimicifuga. Members of the genus Actaea are also known by the common name “baneberry”, a group of plants whose waxy shiny red or white berries are highly toxic and cause damage to cardiac tissue when consumed by mammals, but are not toxic to birds which consume and disperse the seeds through their droppings.
COSEWIC: Endangered BC List: Red, Identified Wildlife
Height up to 2 m. Plants feature large compound leaves and numerous (50 to 900), tiny white flowers clustered on branched bottlebrush-like flower spikes (racemes). The alternate leaves are divided into threes, with 9-17 lobed leaflets, each up to 18 cm long. The flowers of tall bugbane lack petals and instead attract pollinators with numerous showy white stamens. Each flower is surrounded by five tiny sepals. Unlike other members of the genus Actaea, fruits are green pod-like structures (up to 1 cm long) that remain on the plant long after flowering and split open in fall or winter to release about a dozen reddish-brown seeds.
RESOURCES
For further information see:
A sources for authoritative conservation information on thousands of plants and animals and hundreds of ecological communities in BC.
A joint venture resource providing comprehensive information on a range of species and ecological communities specific to the Coast Region of BC (including the South, Central and North Coast, Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii).
Environmental guidelines for urban and rural land development in BC.
Learn what species are at risk in your area, search by name, habitat type, regional district and forest district.
A volunteer-driven GIS-based biogeoclimatic atlas of the vascular plants, fungi, algae, bryophytes and lichens of BC.
Source for status, taxonomy, distribution and life history information for plants, animals and ecological communities in the US and Canada.
An initiative of the Province of BC to provide more explicit guidance and conservation on specific species and ecological communities of conservation concern that are impacted by forestry activities.
The source for news, information and documents related to species at risk, their status and conservation in Canada.
SHARE
