Medical Uses: Native Americans used a root tea for various problems including pain, colds and coughs. The Cherokee use it to revive a patient near death. The Chippewa used the same tea for convulsions. Warning! Contact with all parts of this plant should be avoided. The berries are known to be extremely toxic and all parts may be somewhat toxic and may even cause blisters on the skin where touched.

Similar Species: Red Baneberry (A. Rubra) is very similar and may sometimes have white berries (White Baneberry may have red berries). The flowers of Red Baneberry are in a more compact cluster and most distinctively the berries are on very thin pedicels where those of White Baneberry are thick.

See the links below this image for other images. (1) © Daniel Reed   E-mail      Image use policy OTHER IMAGES These images open in a new window. You may need to resize the window to view the entire image. White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) - The very showy fruit.  © Daniel Reed Ads on this page help pay for this site but if you see one that seems inappropriate here such as one that is counter to the pro environmental theme please let me know which Ad and I will block it. Report a Bad Ad

One of the best general guides to wildflowers of the North Eastern and North Central United States. Newcomb's key is an excellent, simple method for identifying plants. Newcomb has drawings for almost every plant mentioned that are excellent aids to identifying the species. Though only the more common plants are covered this is often the first book I pick up when trying to identify a wildflower.

Wildflo wers of Tennessee the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians

This is perhaps the best of many field guides covering this region. Featuring 446 excellent color photographs (located with the text) and mentioning as similar to those illustrated are another 800 or so species for a total coverage of over 1,200 species. The start of each family section includes line drawings of some of the species showing important features. The text includes the usual description, bloom season, range, habitat and additionally includes information such as medical uses and lore and how the species was named. This is the official field guide of the Tennessee Native Plant Society.