The first plant is "white baneberry " the botonical name is Actaea pachypoda, this is a shade , moist loving plant , common name also called by " doll's eyes " , there are a same family member in nursery is popular in shade garden also called "black bugbane " or black cohosh , black snakeroot , is Actaea racemosa , but I have never seen anyone selling or growing this white baneberry in their garden, I found this plant is really special, does anyone grow them ? And how do I get the seed from the plant?
The second one is belong to dogwood family, but a tiny , perennial size , common name is bunch berries, they have the small , start sharp flowers like dogwood and with red berries in the fall time, the botonical name is Cornus canadensis , it is like a small dogwood ground cover , I saw them in the forest floor, I believe some animals has eaten the berries, they are just an adorable small ground cover , but also I have never seen nursery sell them , only see them on catalog selling their roots , does anyone ever planted them or picked the berries to get the seed ?
by One_Kaleidoscope_198
18 Comments
From what i have read both species are tricky to germinate, requiring multiple cycles of cold and warm stratification.
I want to grow doll’s eyes, but I’m not great at germinating to begin with and I’ve heard they’re hard to grow from seed. I think they’re so cool looking!
I’ve grown dolls eyes, yes. Area got taken over by more aggressive plants and I didn’t act fast enough to transplant. Otherwise grew fine for me in a shady area near our garage in central CT suburbs. Don’t know about seed collection – I’ll consult my William Cullina books when I have access and get back to you.
I tried Cornus canadensis but it didn’t take. Would love to try again at some point, I love it.
Both of these were sold at Earth Tones in Woodbury, CT last I checked.
Edit: Adding propagation notes from *Growing and Propagating Wildflowers* by William Cullina. The germination letter codes correspond with a key for looking up the germination notes in the book which I’ve done for you and copied into what follows.
**For Actaea (baneberry, including doll’s eyes):**
SEEDS: Actaea seeds should be collected as soon as the fruits begin to color. There are 4-8 of the brown flattened seeds in each fruit. If cleaned and sown immediately outdoors, a good crop of seedlings will germinate the following spring, with half or more waiting an additional year to sprout. However, I have found that the less mature seeds found in newly ripened berries will germinate nearly 100 percent after one winter. Seed that is allowed to dry will take 2 or 3 years to germinate. The seedlings will grow quickly in containers, often flowering and setting a late crop of fruit in their first season.
GERMINATION: (B) seed will germinate upon shifting to 70°F after 90 days of moist, cold stratification at 40°F; (C) seeds germinate only after multiple cycles of warm and cold, typically 40°-70°-40°-70°; (G) chemical inhibitors – Many if not most seeds that ripen in fleshy fruits must be well washed of all pulp to remove germination-inhibiting chemicals they contain. See seed cleaning (p. 236 – shown in the photo below)
**For Cornus (bunchberry):**
SEEDS: Each berry contains a few hard seeds surrounded by a clinging, fibrous pulp that is virtually impossible to entirely remove. I soak the seeds for a week or so and then mash, rinse, and towel dry them. I then grind the dried pemmican-like mass betwixt my fingers, which gets them fairly clean (and leaves my skin silky smooth). Seed flats left in the cold frame for the winter germinate very well in spring, and I usually transfer the seedlings to 2-inch pots for a season before potting them on for sale in larger containers the following year. With moisture and fertilizer, the seedlings continue to grow much longer than they normally would, and bloom the second or third season from seed.
CUTTINGS/DIVISION: Heel cuttings taken after the new growth hardens in summer that have a small piece of rhizome attached are another option, but seed is very reliable and easy.
GERMINATION: (B) and (G) – see above under Actaea for identical notes for these same letter codes
https://preview.redd.it/qtw35ecxt0rf1.jpeg?width=1637&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4eda2b3bf43e4ad19c94714c6f8216f3302291ad
I transplanted some Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) this spring in Central IL. Out of the 7 I planted, one leafed out, and it was the only one receiving a bit of afternoon sun and it got scorched immediately and died. I’m trying again with them but this time growing in pots for the first year at least so I can find a good spot for them and let them get acclimated. It’s much hotter here than where they typically live. Purchased rhizomes from Alaska on Etsy.
Prairie Moon sells dolls eyes.
Hey! I grow both of these in Ottawa, but I bought both from nurseries.
The dolls eyes I have in full shade and it’s doing well.
The bunchberry is trickier….it grows well under some oak sedge, but really needs to be kept moist. We lost a tree out front and the increased sun has been hard on it. Beautiful plant, but needs consistent moisture and shelter.
I’ve seen both in native plant nurseries. I know the Native Plant Trust in MA has both.
I grow Doll’s Eye in my shade garden. I got mine as bare roots and planted them in the fall and they have held strong for 5 years now.
I love them. Great bush upright plant with medium height.
Zone 6 Central Illinois.
My local nursery sells Cornus canadensis, apparently it does well in cultivation
I’ve added William Cullina’s notes on propagation and germination to my earlier comment. Adding this comment so you’ll know.
I have some red bane berry going right now. First year down maybe they’ll come up in the spring. You could also try artificially stratifying. Good luck
Botanically Inclined has white baneberry seeds. https://botanicallyinclined.org/seeds-shop/actaea-pachypoda-seeds/
Ontario Native Plants sold bunchberry this year. https://onplants.ca/shop/cornus-canadensis/
The NANPS plant sale lists both species, although I don’t remember seeing them there (I didn’t pre-order nor look for either). https://nanps.org/online-plant-sale-finished/
Doesn’t Doll’s Eyes require some moisture? It is not drought tolerant
The second one, yes. One of my favorite groundcovers, and so pretty in spring. It’s only sporadically in nurseries here, so when I see it, I buy it up!
I am planning to use bunchberry in my garden. Never noticed it in the wild though.
I saw a bunch of the baneberry on a hike this past weekend. Looks cool, but I’m trying to mostly grow a mix of edible stuff in my natives. I want to be able to eat my garden too, not just feed wildlife.
Though maybe I should consider baneberry. It has a unique look, and when I saw it every plant seemed to have berrys missing so something must have been eating and enjoying it?
its T. Ocellus [https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/alien-earth-t-ocellus-cat-jellyfish-split-gif-3765185485310464065](https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/alien-earth-t-ocellus-cat-jellyfish-split-gif-3765185485310464065)
I have Canada bunchberry, located on PEI, zone 5b. I bought mine as plants from a local nursery here that exclusively sells natives. That said, there’s a nursery in Ontario called GardenTap that I ordered online from just within the last few months, and the plants have all been beautiful and big and healthy! The shipping is a bit steep if you’re not in Ontario, but worth it imo if you’re looking for specific species that are hard to germinate from seed. I have found it’s a bit of a gamble ordering plants online, but I can’t recommend them enough
I put one plant in about 20 years ago. Now they have popped up in many places around my one acre. I assume some animal is distributing the berries around.