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Actaea spicata

Common name:	Herb Christopher	Family:	Ranunculaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	All parts of plant are poisonous but rarely fatal[4, 10, 13, 19, 65, 76].
Range:	Most of Europe, including Britain, through temperate and arctic Asia to China.
Habitat:	Ash woods on limestone and in damp stony woods to 1500 metres[13, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	A. spicata var. nigra[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Actee En Epi [E], Bane Berry [E], Baneberry [H,L,E], Barba Di Capra [E], Bugbane [H], Christoffelkruid [D], Herb Christopher [H], Hierba De San Cristobal [E], Kristofotu [E], Sheng Ma [E], Toadroot [H], Wolfskraut [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	spica = spike spicata = in spikes
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ranunculales. Buttercup family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain China Europe France Germany(Badan) India Italy Spain Turkey

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.5m by 0.5m . It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from May to June, and the seeds ripen from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Beetles and flies. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) or semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Dappled Shade, Deep Shade.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antidote Antispasmodic Cytostatic Nervine.

The root is antispasmodic, cytostatic, emetic, nervine and purgative[4, 17, 65, 240]. In Canada the root is used in the treatment of snakebite[211]. It is also considered useful in the treatment of nervous disorders and rheumatic fever[211]. In India it is used in the treatment of rheumatism, goitre and asthma[240]. This remedy should be used with some caution, see the notes above on toxicity.

Other Uses

Dye Repellent.

The smell of the plant is reputed to drive away vermin[4].
A black dye is obtained from the berries when alum is used as a mordant[4, 13, 74, 100]. The seeds contain tannin[240].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in most conditions[233], but prefers a humus-rich moist soil in light shade doing well amongst shrubs and in light woods[1, 200].
A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes[54].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame or outdoors in a moist shaded seedbed[200]. The seed has a limited viability[200], it can also be sown in spring in a cold frame but germination rates may be poor. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer of the following year.
Division in March or October.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos) from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for actaea spicata (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Ranunculaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[10] Altmann. H. Poisonous Plants and Animals. Chatto and Windus 1980 ISBN 0-7011-2526-8
A small book, reasonable but not very detailed.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[19] Stary. F. Poisonous Plants. Hamlyn 1983 ISBN 0-600-35666-3
Not very comprehensive, but easy reading.

[54] Hatfield. A. W. How to Enjoy your Weeds. Frederick Muller Ltd 1977 ISBN 0-584-10141-4
Interesting reading.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[76] Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. HMSO 1984 ISBN 0112425291
Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[211] Coventry. B. O. Wild Flowers of Kashmir Raithby, Lawrence and Co. 1923
A nice little pocket guide to 50 wildflowers of Kashmir. This is part one of three, we have not seen the other two volumes

[233] Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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