Baneberry (Actaea rubra) is found growing in woodlands, from “moist shady areas” to “dry slopes.” (Schofield 1998) Clusters of berries might be red or white. Leaves are compound with 3 to 5 leaflets. (Chugachmiut 2011) Baneberry is “the only deadly poisonous berry native to Alaska” and fortunately it is easy to recognize. The plant is “striking in appearance” and “mature fruits look as though they’ve been varnished.” Birds eat the bitter berries, however humans should not. “As few as six berries can spark violent symptoms of poisoning” in a person. (Schofield 1998) 

Also called “chinaberry” the fruits “are porcelain in appearance” like china. Another common name is “doll’s eyes, which “alludes to the dark spot prominent on each berry” resembling “the pupil on the eye of a child’s doll. Children, in face, are highly attracted by this bright, shiny berry.” Fruits are “extremely bitter so “deliberately eating more than one is highly unlikely. Poisonings most often occur when youngsters indiscriminately throw handfuls of baneberries into the collecting bucket.” Taken by accident internally, “baneberries cause heavy dizziness, sharp stomach pains, bloody diarrhea, and death by cardiac arrest or respiratory paralysis.” The plant causes vomiting. (Schofield 1998) 

References

Chugachmiut Heritage Preservation. Traditional Sugpiaq Medicinal Plants. Chugachmiut Heritage Preservation, 2011. Copyright Thomas Carefoot, 1977. https://chugachmiut.whirlihost.com/Detail/objects/4676

Hultén, Eric. Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories: A Manual of the Vascular Plants, 1968.

Kari, Priscilla Russell. Tanaina Plantlore Dena’ina K’et’una: An Ethnobotany of the Dena’ina Indians of Southcentral Alaska. Alaska Native Language Center (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Alaska Natural History Association, National Park Service, fourth edition, 1995. 

Russell, Priscilla N. English Bay and Port Graham Alutiiq Plantlore. Pratt Museum (Homer Society of Natural History), Chugach Heritage Foundation, and Alaska Native Plant Society, 1991.

Schofield, Janice J. Discovering Wild Plants: Alaska, Western Canada, The Northwest, fourth printing. Anchorage, AK, Alaska Northwest Books, 1998.

Viereck, Eleanor G. Alaska’s Wilderness Medicines: Healthful Plants of the Far North. Alaska Northwest Books, Fifth printing, 1995.

Author

Cecelia N. Dailey, 28 August 2025