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National Park Mystery Plant 5 Revealed: It’s the Red Baneberry

Red baneberry (foreground) in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Photo by Wsiegmund via Wikimedia.

Did you identify the red baneberry as the featured plant in national park mystery plant quiz #5? Here are some more interesting facts about this widely-distributed beauty with the toxic berries.

Red baneberry (Actaea rubra) is a member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). Both the red baneberry and its close relative the white baneberry (Actaea alba) have toxic properties if ingested and pose potentially serious hazards for the unwary.

Because red baneberry and white baneberry are commonly found growing near each other, people commonly lump the two species together in the general category “baneberry” when talking about the plants and their hazards. In point of fact, they may not say “baneberry” at all. Depending on the geographic area, the baneberry may go by a variety of different names (including misnomers) such as bugbane, chinaberry, dolls eye, cohosh, or herb Christopher.

Like all members of the buttercup family, baneberry fruits and foliage contain ranunculin, a substance that yields the highly irritating toxin protoanemonin when any part of the plant is chewed, crushed, pulped, or otherwise damaged. All parts of the plant are poisonous, but the berries and roots are especially toxic, with the degree of toxicity varying with the time of year and other influences.

Sensitivity to the toxin varies with age, weight, physical condition, and the individual’s susceptibility. Because of their small size, children are most vulnerable to the baneberry’s toxic effects. This is compounded by inexperience and curiosity, which may lead children to take risks adults will not. Although no baneberry poisoning fatalities or serious injuries have been reported in North America, there have been some cases of children dying from baneberry poisoning in Europe.

Cardiac arrest is a possibility if a small child consumes as few as two to six berries (or a particularly susceptible adult gets a strong enough dose), but victims typically experiences only discomforting symptoms. In addition to burning and possible blistering of the mouth and throat, the victim may suffer from some combination of excessive salivation, headache, dizziness, gastrointestinal distress (nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea), vomiting, temporary memory loss and confusion, and hallucinations.

Sedative effects of the chemicals may also be apparent in some cases. This is a significant concern with severe poisoning, since the toxins can cause respiratory failure, ventricular fibrillation (an often fatal arrhythmia), or relaxation of the heart muscle to the point of cardiac arrest.

Fortunately, the bitter taste and burning sensation that people get when they nibble the berries makes ingestion very unlikely. While children can be at great risk if they swallow even a few berries, a healthy adult would probably have to swallow half a dozen or so to be seriously poisoned. Anxiety and fright may lead victims to seek medical attention, but it is seldom needed on an emergency basis. Baneberry poisoning symptoms tend to dissipate fairly quickly, generally within a few hours, and are unlikely to cause any long-term damage.

Like many other plants with potent chemical properties, the baneberry has played a role in aboriginal and folk medicine. The prepared root has been used to treat menstrual cramps and menopausal discomforts. Since the baneberry has both emetic and purgative effects, it can be used to achieve the cleansing effects of vomiting and diarrhea (although it’s likely that other readily available plants would be chosen as a safer, less harsh way to get the job done).

American Indians made at least one other use of the baneberry. Because the berry juice is toxic and has a sedative effect, it was sometimes used in concentrated form to poison projectile points.

Since the red baneberry is an attractive bushy plant with showy white flowers and pretty red berries, it is sometimes used as an ornamental planting. The seeds are commercially available.

Comments

Tomp posted this comment,which was inadvertently deleted. He is referring to the fact that there are plenty of plants with "bane" as part of their name, so it makes no sense to avoid a plant just because that term appears in its name. I have deleted the postscript that accompanied the article, and which contained this recommendation. Thanks for getting me back on the straight and narrow, tomp.

:National Park Mystery Plant 5 Revealed: It’s the Red Baneberry

[Among the non-toxic plants with "bane" as part of their name are] a few hundred species of "fleabane" and a dozen or so of "bugbane". I'm not sure one way or the other about "common leopardbane" (Doronicum acaule) or "wolfsbane" (Aconitum vulparia), as I'm not in particular danger from leopards and I'd kinda like to see wolves in the wild.


Bob--

Your last lines weren't an offending comment, they were informative and a reasonable generalization. I just added some fun exceptions, although I won't guaranty that fleabane repels fleas.


Not a problem, tomp. The line between reasonable generalization and unreasonable generalization was too thin there. I don't like to defend that sort of thing because coming up with just the right weaselspeak leaves me with a headache. BTW, that weird looking "too dark, can't see it" effect that caused me to delete the first instance of your comment was due to the fact that I had accidentally inserted a "close quote" mark at the very end of the article's postscript without having inserted a "begin quote." When I deleted the postscript, errant "close quote" and all, the problem was solved. As they say, even a blind hog occasionally finds an acorn.


Mr. Janiskee, thank you so much for this interesting article.
I was wondering if there is a chance for someone to intentionally poison himself to death with the Red Baneberry, considering how bitter this think is?
Also, what kind of immediate help should be given to that person.
I have read that there is no actual antidote for baneberry poisoning, but do you happen to know any kind of drug that could help in case of severe poisoning?
I will appreciate your answer. Best regards.


The berries of the red baneberry are so weird-looking and bitter-tasting that only a naive child or an extremely heedless adult would be likely to get a harmful dose. The fact that there has never been a reported fatality from baneberry ingestion in the U.S underscores that fact. Your other two questions deal with medical issues that take me way out of my depth. You should address those questions to your local Poison Control Center. A locator for Poison Control Centers can be found at this site. A Poison Control Center handles general questions about poisons, not just medical emergencies.


Thank you very much for your answer.


I'm an idiot, I'm writing this after I mistook these red berries for ginseng berries. I heard you can chew on the stalk on ginseng so I ate this whole effin poison stalk before I tried one of the berries in that cluster and my mouth instantly started stinging so badly. I really hope there wasn't enough poison in that stalk to kill me.


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