This section is from the book "Harper's Guide To Wild Flowers", by Caroline A. Creevey. Also available from Amazon: Harper's Guide To Wild Flowers.
Actaea rubra - Family, Crowfoot. Color of blossom white; berries bright red. Sepals, 4 or 5, falling early. Petals, 4 to 10, small, broadened above, on slender claws. Stamens, numerous, with white filaments. Pistil, 1, making a many-seeded, oval berry. Leaves, large, broad, twice or thrice compound, the leaflets cut and toothed. Flowers in a short, thick raceme at the end of the stem which bears few leaves, about 2 feet high. April and May.
A handsome plant, especially when its bright fruit enlivens the woods. Common northward.
 
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