How do you recognise Kamchatka bugbane (Actaea simplex)?

Leaf

AfroBrazilian, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Kamchatka bugbane

Actaea simplex (DC.) Wormsk. ex Prantl

Also known as: Bugbane, Branched bugbane

Family: Ranunculaceae

1 to 1.8 m tall

Cool woodland understorey, shaded garden beds

Flowering: September – October

Part shade

Shade

-25°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Its late flowering in fragrant spikes lights up shady beds at the end of the season, when almost everything else has finished flowering.

🍃 Leaves

Large compound, divided leaves, dark green or purple depending on the variety

🌸 Flowers

Long, tapering cream-white spikes, very fragrant, held upright above the foliage

🍎 Fruits

Small dry follicles, barely visible

🪵 Bark

Tall herbaceous perennial forming a clump, with upright flowering stems.

🗺️ Distribution

Native to East Asia (Japan, China, Korea); widely grown in Europe as an ornamental shade perennial.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Spikes much visited by bees and bumblebees late in the season, a time when few other perennials are in flower.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Shady beds and woodland garden, combined with ferns and hostas; highly prized for its late flowering and fragrance.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Plant toxic if eaten, like most of the buttercup family; irritant to skin and mucous membranes. Do not eat.

🌱 Known cultivars

'Brunette'

The cultivar 'Brunette' has deep purple-black foliage and pink-tinged flower spikes, very different from the green foliage and white flowers of the typical species.

🌿 Other Ranunculaceae to discover

Meadow buttercup

Ranunculus acris

Lenten rose

Helleborus orientalis

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.