Red Baneberry, Actaea rubra
 
Red baneberry is a showy woodland plant with attractive foliage that remains green throughout most of the growing season. Delicate white flowers appear in globular clusters in May, producing beautiful, shiny, bright red fruit that often stays on the plant through the fall. Great for shaded borders, woodland gardens or as a tall groundcover with a height of 60 cm to 1.20 m. Baneberry looks tidy and elegant as an upright clump-forming plant with a light and airy texture.
 
Ecology:
Baneberry produces pollen to attract early emerging bees and is a host plant for moths.
Birds are the primary seed dispersers eating the berries. Small mammals eat the seeds but not the pulp.
Deer and small mammals occasionally feed on them but rarely significantly damage the plants.
 
Growing conditions:
Baneberry thrives in moist, well-drained, fertile soil with lots of organic matter. It can grow in full shade to part sun and will flower more with more light. In the wild, baneberry grows in coniferous and deciduous woodland edges. Leave the fallen leaves to create soil with higher organic matter and typical woodland conditions. Plants don't need to be cut back.
Baneberry is juglone-tolerant and can be grown under black walnut trees.
 
Good to know:
The entire plant is toxic, but luckily, the berries are very bitter and unpalatable. If consumed in large amounts, the berries and roots, in particular, can cause a burning sensation in the mouth, cardiac arrest, stomach cramps, and headaches in humans and dogs. Indigenous peoples used the plant medicinally.