Rick’s Native Plant of the Month | Black bugbane (Actaea racemose)

Black bugbane is also known as black cohosh and as fairy candle. Its candelabra-like flower stalks can reach 6 feet and stand out brightly against a dark background. Native to eastern North America, it can be found in moist woodlands and woodland openings and blooms later than most native wildflowers, in late June and July. Its creamy white flowers are small and clustered on branched spikes.

Dark green foliage is attractive all season and grows about 2 feet tall on black-purple stems. Leaves are compound, deeply cut and toothed and vaguely maple-like in outline. Fruiting capsules dry on the stems and are a feature of the late summer garden.

Black bugbane is easily grown in woodland and shade gardens, in average and moist soils. It can take morning sun, but withers if it receives more than that. It is reported to be deer resistant. The roots and rhizomes of this plant were used by many indigenous peoples and extracts are still used in herbal medicine today, as relief for the symptoms of menopause. The tall, creamy-white spikes of bugbane can be found at Bridge Gardens in the shady bed that borders the lawn where we host our members’ music nights each summer.