Actaea americana (syn. Cimicifuga americana) - Handsome of habit this happy woodlander is a consistently welcome figure in the August garden. Six to eight-inch branched bottle brushes composed of packed white florets display atop flowering stems which vertically ascend to 60-inches. The flowering spikes, perfect spires, stand erect above a rounded mound of attractive palmate foliage that grows between 12 and 24 inches high at the center of the mound. It flowers reliably for nearly a month every year and is followed by a muted yellow fall color before the cold weather melts it all away. Actaea americana is one of a number of desirable woodlanders that modestly self sow here at Quackin' Grass lending to a more casual, naturalistic look and feel in situations where formality is an anathema. Mountain Bugbane has a few other botanical Latin synonyms but to avoid confusion I will mention but one, Actaea podocarpa. Do not confuse A. podocarpa with A. pachypoda which is Doll's Eyes, aka Baneberry. Mountain Bugbane is worthy - if you have a shade garden or a woodland oasis we strongly recommend this very fine perennial. Its summer bloom alone makes it a great candidate when few other woodlanders flower. That coupled with its handsome ease and composure makes it a must. And, in truth at least for us, this fine Cimcifuga has been consistent, easier to please and more permanent than some of its cousins. Fertile draining soil. Dappled to half shade. Established pot grown plant from seed or division.