Actaea pachypoda Elliott

White Baneberry; Dolls' Eyes; White Cohosh

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Dolls' Eyes is a native herbaceous perennial in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It grows primarily in northern and west-central Alabama. Dolls' Eyes occurs in rich hardwood forests, in ravines, on north-facing slopes, and in cove forests. It is a perennial from an enlarged hardened caudex or rhizome. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, and ternately or pinnately parted. The leaflets are ovate to elliptic in outline, glabrous, with lobed, cleft, and toothed margins. Flowers are produced in a terminal or axillary raceme. The individual flowers are bisexual with anther-like white petals. The flowers produce pollen but no nectar. The fruit is an ellipsoid or globose white berry with a stout red pedicel and a short black beak. The common name "Doll's Eyes" refers to the fruit which resemble the china eyes once used in dolls. Dolls’ Eyes is sometimes available from native plant nurseries. It can also be propagated from root division or by seed. Dolls’ Eyes prefers a well-drained, humus-rich soil in full to partial shade. All parts of the plant are toxic to mammals if consumed. The fruit are consumed by birds who are immune to their toxins.—A. Diamond.

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Native G5 (Global Rank)

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