Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in photo #1?
The answer to last week’s mystery is black cohosh, Actaea racemosa, pictured in photo #2.
The black cohosh is an upright rhizomatous perennial native to eastern North America. This Summer-blooming woodland wildflower has deer-resistant foliage topped in June with tall, narrow, upright spikes of small white flowers, making it a great architectural native for the shade garden.
In Autumn, the foliage turns golden and the showy flowers are followed by interesting seed heads, making it attractive to wildlife. Black cohosh is larval host for the Appalachian Azure butterfly.
Black cohosh has several medicinal benefits. The root is used to treat fever, coughs,
and musculoskeletal pain. It is also reputed to possess analgesic, sedative, and anti-inflammatory effects. Black cohosh is traditionally used to treat menopause symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats.
Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.
