Black Cohosh
Actaea racemosa
Also known as: Black Bugbane
Black cohosh sends white flower spires four to six feet up from a mound of dark, deeply cut foliage, and because the flowers are essentially all stamen with no petals, a spike reads as a long bottlebrush of white filaments rather than a row of blossoms. They are bright enough to glow in shade at dusk, and the scent up close is distinctly unpleasant — this is a plant working flies and beetles rather than bees, and the smell is the point. The old name bugbane comes from the same source: it was hung indoors to drive insects out. It is long-lived, slow and entirely non-running, wanting shade and steady moisture, and it resents being moved once settled. The root has a long and still-current history in herbal medicine; the plant is poisonous in large doses and is specifically not recommended in pregnancy or while breastfeeding. The seed spikes hold their shape well into snow.
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Type
- wildflower
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 4–6 ft
- Spacing
- 2–4 ft apart
- Light
- part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- June, July, August, September
- Bloom colors
- white, green
- Wildlife value
- butterflies, hummingbirds, pollinators, songbirds
- Landscape uses
- border, naturalizing, rain garden
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, WV