Ranunculaceae / Actaea rubra / Red Baneberry

We’ve been neck-deep inf berry season for the last few months and we still can’t get enough! Seems like every outing this time of year is governed by where we might be able to find the largest bounty. While generally we’ve focused on the tastiest of the mountains, today’s medals in quite a different category.

Also known as the “Buttcrack Berry” (full disclosure…I might have made that name up), Actaea rubra is, in spite of it’s showy berries, a relatively uncommon sight in the Sierra Nevada. Enjoying deep and moist soils, we find them most often on seepage slopes and along creeks. In California, it occurs from sea-level all the way up to 3000m.

A deciduous perennial herb, it usually stands less than a meter tall with several branched stems. The leaves are the most conspicuous aspect when not in fruit; alternate, two or three times compound, sharply toothed and lobed. Classic Ranunculaceae.

Flowers have small white petals, showy stamens and a rosy scent (though I have not verified this myself). Amazingly, fruit set is close to 100%. These are a showy matte red, with a distinctive line (buttcrack) bisecting one end. Each berry contains numerous red-brown seeds which are primarily dispersed by birds.

The most notable characteristic of this plant, at least when it comes to humans, is it’s extreme toxicity. It has glycosides (protoanemonin and ranunculin) that is in all parts of the plant but most concentrated in the berries and the roots. Even a small number of berries can cause severe distress ranging from nausea, dizziness and severe GTI issues. Toxins are sedative upon the cardiac muscle tissue and can lead to arrest if introduced into the bloodstream. Juice from the fruits has been used traditionally to poison arrows. (USDA 2024).