baneberry

American  

[beyn-ber-ee, -buh-ree] / ˈbeɪnˌbɛr i, -bə ri /

noun

plural

baneberries

1. any plant belonging to the genus Actaea, of the buttercup family, having large compound leaves, spikes of small white flowers, and poisonous red or white berries.

2. the berry of such a plant.

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baneberry British  

/ ˈbeɪnbərɪ /

noun

1. Also called: herb Christopher.   cohosh.  any ranunculaceous plant of the genus Actaea , esp A. spicata , which has small white flowers and red or white poisonous berries

2. a berry of any of these plants

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Etymology

Origin of baneberry

First recorded in 1745–55; bane + berry

Example Sentences

The professor had told her about doll’s eyes, another name for the white baneberry that could cause cardiac arrest.

From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby

“This is baneberry, the small fruits are safe to eat when red but never when shading from green to yellow to orange. “This is how you set your feet when you want to walk silently.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

I am also equally curious to know if anything eats the fruit of the red and white baneberry and the blue cohosh.

From Ways of Nature by Burroughs, John

But, as Dr. Prior adds, the name is applied to many plants which have no qualities in common, some of these being the meadow-sweet, fleabane, osmund-fern, herb-impious, everlasting-flower, and baneberry.

From The Folk-lore of Plants by Dyer, T. F. Thiselton (Thomas Firminger Thiselton)

On the wooded slopes there are the white fruits of the baneberry on its quaintly-shaped red stalks, the pretty fruit clusters of the moonseed and the smilax.

From Some Summer Days in Iowa by Lazell, Frederick John