vandaliatraveler:

Autumn Berries, Volume 3: White Baneberry. One of Appalachia’s most distinctive and easily identifiable fall berries belongs to white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda), a perennial herb in the buttercup family. A close relative of black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), white baneberry has a similar, shrub-like habit with the identical arrangement of three coarsely-toothed, thrice-divided compound leaves. In late spring to early summer, dense white clusters of flowers form at the tops of thick green stalks, which darken and turn red later in the season. The flowers are replaced by shiny white berries with distinctive black stigma scars in the fall. The similarity in appearance of the berries to the china eyes once used in dolls has led to the plant’s other common name: doll’s eyes. However attractive the berries may be, they are highly toxic to human beings, although birds feed on them. The plant makes an attractive ornamental for shade gardens and is easily propagated.