#black bugbane

Actaea racemosa / Black Cohosh at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

I suppose if any wildflower can be said to embody the bounty and energy of summer, it must be black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa, or Actaea racemosa). Anyone who has grown up in Central Appalachia will instantly recognize and connect with the towering "fairy candles" of this woods-dwelling perennial in the buttercup family - some might even suggest a spiritual bond exists between the people of the mountains and the plant. This isn't surprising - black cohosh has a long and storied history as a medicinal herb, dating back to the Native American tribes, who used an extract from its root to treat everything from musculoskeletal pain to snake bites, and continuing with the European settlers, who used it to treat the symptoms of menopause. While there is little evidence from clinical trials indicating the plant's efficacy in treating menopausal symptoms, higher quality studies are being urged and may yet prove the plant's value in supporting female reproductive health. Irrespective of its potential contributions to medicine, black cohosh is the living spirit of Appalachia's summer woods, and one of the most spectacular wildflowers of North America.

a large hoverfly feeding on a black cohosh cultivar. Native jewelweed in background

Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), also referred to as black bugbane, black snakeroot, and fairy candles, is just now reaching peak bloom along the Mon River Trail. A perennial herb in the buttercup family, the plant grows best in open woods in part to full shade and rich, mesic soil; under ideal conditions, it forms dense colonies with a lush, shrub-like habit. With its dark green, deeply-dissected, tripinnately-compound foliage and dramatic plumes of white flowers, black cohosh makes a showy, reasonably undemanding addition to a native wildflower garden. The plant also has a long history of medicinal and herbal use by Native Americans, white settlers, and practitioners of alternative medicine - no endorsements here, of course. What can be safely said is that black cohosh is as intimately bound to Appalachian life and culture as are ginseng, greasy beans, moonshine, and ramps - it is one of the true natural icons of mountain life.