BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Actaea rubra | Red Baneberry 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Red baneberry is a deciduous, perennial herb, usually from 1 to 3 feet
(4-10 dm) tall with one to several branched stems [37,38].  Perennating
tissue appears to be a vertical caudex just under the soil surface
[Stickney, P., pers. comm. 1990] but has also been described as a
rootstock [37,38] or a rhizome [72].  The leaves are alternate, two to
three times compound, sharply toothed and lobed.

The flowers have small white petals, showy stamens, and a roselike
fragrance [59].  Flowers are borne in a terminal or axillary raceme and
pollinated by a variety of insects [59].  These flowers can be
self-fertile, although they are not capable of apomixis [59].  In
Michigan the most common pollinator is an introduced beetle (Phyllobius
oblongus), which uses the inflorescences as mating sites and does not
ingest the pollen.  Fruit set is normally close to 100 percent [59].
The fruits are showy, poisonous, red or occasionally white berries
[38,58].  Each berry contains 9 to 16 red-brown, sector-shaped seeds 0.1
to 1.5 inches (3-4 mm) long [32,72].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
The seed of red baneberry requires a dormant period and usually takes 2
years to germinate [86].  During a laboratory study of seed collected in
the fall, germination began 243 days following sowing.  Only 8.8 percent
of the seeds germinated; survival was 50 percent in the sun and 64.3
percent in the shade [61].  Seedling growth was good in both sun and
shade.  While survival was better in the shade, seedlings in the sun
were slightly larger and had more biomass allocated to roots [61].
Seedlings begin to bloom in their third year [86].

The fruit appears to be adapted to bird dispersal, although in the only
recent study of fruit use, insect and small mammal predation of seeds
was higher than use of the pulp by birds.  Fruit color did not seem to
be related to the amount of insect predation, fruit weight, number of
fruits per stem, or seeds per fruit; however, nocturnal use of white
fruit was higher [81].  Chipmunks may bury the seed [87].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Red baneberry grows best on cool, moist, nutrient-rich sites
[6,13,20,34,51,62].  Along the West Coast, these sites are moister and
richer than mesic and mesotrophic [62,77].  In the dense forest areas of
southeastern Alaska red baneberry grows on open streambanks and in
meadows [74].  In British Columbia it grows under spruce, spruce and
black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), or spruce, subalpine fir, and
aspen (Populus tremuloides) forests with black twinberry (Lonicera
involucrata), thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus), bluejoint reedgrass
(Calamagrostis canadensis), and horsetails (Equisetum spp.) [36,62].  On
the west slope of the Rocky Mountains in Washington, it grows with
ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
in river canyons extending out into the grasslands [78].  In Oregon it
is identified as an indicator of moist sites with cold soil temperatures
[28,52].  In the South Umpqua River Basin of southwestern Oregon, it is
found only on such sites [52].  In Oregon it may also be found in
seepage, marshy, and other moist areas with red alder (Alnus rubra),
bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), vine maple (A. circinatum), and
sedges (Carex spp.) [4].  In the Siskiyou Mountains of Oregon and
California, it occurs at middle elevations, from 3,950 to 5,950 feet
(1,200-1,800 m) on diorite soils under relatively open stands dominated
by Douglas-fir and white fir (Abies concolor) [80].  It also extends to
high-elevation sites dominated by red fir (A. magnifica) [6].  It is
tolerant of low light intensity in the coastal redwood (Sequoia
sempervirens) region [77].

In the northern Rocky Mountains it is an understory species in moist and
very moist subalpine forests and riparian areas [8,26,64,71,76,83,84].
It appears to grow equally well on north and south exposures [55].  In
the Rocky Mountain subalpine fir forests of eastern Washington and Idaho
it is only found with the moist-site shrubs and herbs that Daubenmire
and Daubenmire [19] called the "Pachistima union" [28].  In Alberta it
grows under climax white spruce (Picea glauca) in valleys and lower
slopes [53].  Red baneberry is a dominant herb in very moist aspen
stands in the Black Hills [66].  In Utah it can be found in mountain
brush, willow-birch (Betula spp.), aspen, Douglas-fir, limber pine
(Pinus flexilis), subalpine fir, and Engelmann spruce (Picea
engelmannii) communities [79].  In the southern Rocky Mountains of New
Mexico, red baneberry grows in corkbark fir (A. lasiocarpa var
arizonica) and Engelmann spruce forests with Senecio sanguisorboides,
twinberry, wolf currant (Ribes wolfii), and gooseberry currant (R.
montigenum) [22].  Other plants frequently associated with it in the
Rocky Mountains include pachistima (Pachistima myrsinites), baldhip rose
(Rosa gymnocarpa), woods rose (R. woodsii), narrowleaf cottonwood
(Populus angustifolia), aspen, blue spruce (Picea pungens), grand fir
(Abies grandis), blue huckleberry (Vaccinium globulare), thinleaf alder
(Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia), willows (Salix spp.), redosier dogwood
(Cornus sericea), black twinberry, Drummond willow (Salix drummondiana),
sweetscented bedstraw (Galium triflorum), western meadowrue (Thalictrum
occidentale), starry solomon plume (Smilacina stellata), and mountain
bluebells (Mertensia ciliata).

In Minnesota baneberry (Actaea spp.) grows on a wide range of sites but
prefers partial to full shade and moderately moist, nutrient-rich soils
[9].  Red baneberry is not one of the most important herbs, but it is
scattered throughout red and white pine (Pinus resinosa and P. strobus)
forests and forests dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and other
hardwoods from Minnesota to New England [11,17,18,69].  In Wisconsin
where its range overlaps that of white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda), red
baneberry's presence is highest in boreal forest, while white baneberry
is more common in mesic, northern Wisconsin, mixed-hardwood forests
[15].  In the Saint Lawrence Valley it is normally restricted to climax
or near climax forest [16].  In northeastern Saskatchewan it is found
near lake and stream margins with willows, sedges, and reedgrass
(Calamagrostis spp.) [5].

In Colorado and Utah red baneberry's growth is fair to good on sandy
loam, loam and clay loam soils and poor to fair on gravel, sand, clay,
and dense clay [21].  Its growth is best on organic and acidic soils
that are at least 20 inches (51 cm) deep and poor on saline or sodic
soils [21].

Elevational ranges in some western regions are [13,21,37,57]:

                     Minimum                   Maximum
                   feet       meters         feet      meters

Alberta            1,650        500           4,900     1,500
California         sea level                 10,000     3,048
Colorado           7,000      2,134          11,500     3,505
Montana            4,500      1,372           6,600     2,012
New Mexico         8,000      2,438           9,500     2,896
Utah               4,500      1,372          10,000     3,048
Wyoming            4,500      1,372          12,300     3,750


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Throughout its range, red baneberry is found in both early seral and
mature forests [11,15,16,18,36,53,62,69,77].  Results of a study in
southwestern Oregon indicated that red baneberry cover was similar at
light levels ranging from full sunlight to less than 3.5 percent of full
sunlight [23].  In northern Idaho the amount of tree cover does not
appear to affect the frequency of red baneberry [55].  Red baneberry
plants generally are scattered so that changes in population size over
time are difficult to measure.  Results of a north-central Idaho study
in a grand fir/pachistima habitat type indicated that red baneberry had
higher cover values in early succession, although it was still present
in near-climax stands [85].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
In Minnesota forests, the leaves and flowers of red baneberry appear in
the first 3 weeks of the growing season, and the leaves begin to wither
and die by midsummer [17].  Across its range, red baneberry blooms from
May to July and fruits from August to October [27].  In Michigan,
flowering began between the May 20 and 30 and lasted 10 to 20 days.
Where red baneberry grows with white baneberry (A. pachypoda), it always
begins blooming 3 to 5 days earlier [59].  In New England flowering is
from May 9 to June 10 [67].  In northern Idaho flowering is from May to
July [58,76].  In Utah and North Dakota flowering begins in May and ends
by late June or early July, while in Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming,
bloom begins in June and ends in August [21].

Related categories for Species: Actaea rubra | Red Baneberry