Cimicifuga / Actaea

[Plummer]

I have Cimicifuga racemosa which is in flower now, C. americana, C. japonica which is about to flower. I have a third plant (actually dozens of them) which grows as tall as C. racemosa and starting to flower. The obvious difference is that the leaves are huge, as much as 9-10 in (20-25 cm) wide. Is this a different species or a form of racemosa?

[ncole]

Possibly cordifolia?

[Lori S.]

Wow, sounds wonderful!  I'd love to see photos!
C. cordifolia sure sounds like a possibility... I only have the cultivar 'Blickfang' which has large leaves but not so large as you describe.

[Lori S.]

Well, here's the difference caused by many degrees of latitude... my Actaea (Cimicifuga) racemosa have just started to bloom in what is almost mid-August, as compared to early July for Plummer in New York State!  I love these plants... the 2 original plants have formed massive, stately clumps after many years:

 

[Hoy]

Well, here's the difference caused by many degrees of latitude... my Actaea (Cimicifuga) racemosa have just started to bloom in what is almost mid-August, as compared to early July for Plummer in New York State!  I love these plants... the 2 original plants have formed massive, stately clumps after many years:

Started to bloom now? That's early compared to my plants. They are among the last ones to flower and typically bloom in October.

[Lori S.]

The various cultivars of Actaea simplex bloom later for me than Actaea racemosa... though not so late as October, usually.  (If they haven't bloomed by then, they'd be frozen off!)

[ncole]

How much sun are those racemosa in?  Mine do not stand that "stately".

[Lori S.]

The one plant is planted on the north side of a lattice trellis (as you can see in the photo) and gets about 8 hours of sun per day.  The other plant is in slightly more sun (and is currently being swamped by Rosa 'Therese Bugnet').  It doesn't get hot here though.

[ncole]

8 hours of sun?  Well it must be the heat factor then...I cannot imagine it here in even afternoon sun....but it sure looks better than mine ever have!

[Tony Willis]

Our simplex are just flowering and are slightly over 6ft tall. Sun is not a factor here,they are planted in wet heavy soil and apart from five odd days it has rained every day since 5th May. What is sun?

[Lori S.]

... apart from five odd days it has rained every day since 5th May. What is sun?

Egad!  Have there been mass suicides?!?    Weather like that is really unimaginable here.  What part of the UK are you in?

[Booker]

... apart from five odd days it has rained every day since 5th May. What is sun?

Egad!  Have there been mass suicides?!?    Weather like that is really unimaginable here.  What part of the UK are you in?

Tony is nearer the coast, so slightly drier than me!!!!  We seemed to miss three of those 'odd five days'.  LOL.
We both live in Lancashire - midway (very approximately) between North Wales, The Lake District, The Peak District, The Yorkshire Dales and the North-West coast of England.  I remember one lovely day in June, very warm rain indeed!

[Lori S.]

 

Wow, I know that people are amazed at what we put with through the winter, but I have to commend your mental strength in putting up with that!

For my reference (and for anyone else who may be similarly challenged in geography skills ), here's a map of UK counties:
http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/maps/england/

[McDonough]

I've been aching to post to this topic, as I'm nuts about Cimicifuga... and YES I've gone rogue and belligerently maintain Cimicifuga (dry capsules, a follicle) and Actaea (fleshy fruits, a berry) as distinctly separate genera. It's a genus with summer bloomers to fall bloomers, to those with incredibly fragrant flowers (C. simplex) to some with stinky flowers (C. foetida).  I grow a number of forms of Cimicifuga simplex, including a few of the way-overpriced cultivars such as 'Brunette' and 'Hillside Black Beauty'.  I grow the straight green-leaved form of C. simplex, as well as the beautiful purple-leaved forms (dark black purple stems too) known as the 'Atropurpurea Group', although don't know about the validity of such a name, perhaps a catch-all for purplish-leaved dark-stemmed versions.  It is this latter version that provides the most interest, and is a fantastic garden giant.

Cimicifuga simplex (Actaea simplex) is typically noted as a species from Japan, although it also found in Korea, Mongolia, and Russia (Far East, E. Siberia):
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200007575

Among it's many synonyms is Cimicifuga ramosa, not to be confused with C. racemosa (black bugbane), the latter being one of the stinky species, native to eastern half of North America (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ACRA7).  Unfortunately, these names are hopelessly confused in horticulture, so if you google "cimicifuga racemosa" you'll notice how this American species gets totally misapplied to Asian cultivars of C. simplex such as 'Brunette' and 'Hillside Black Beauty'.

Regarding 'Brunette', 'Hillside Black Beauty', and possibly others, I do not find them as satisfactory as those that come under the broad category of the "atropurpurea group", the latter producing stately plants with a gorgeous blackish-purple tinge to the foliage, dark black-purple stems, and buds strongly suffused purple as well, adding rich contrast to the white flowers.  Under good conditions, I have measured mine as reaching 8' (2.3 m), but they're always well over 6' (2m) tall.  They start blooming late August but really come into their own around mid September, and continue into October.  The entire yard is perfumed from the heady "burnt sugar" cotton candy perfume of the flowers.

They seed about with abandon, so be forewarned. Seedlings will shown lots of variation from all green, to dark purple-foliaged forms. I have allowed them to spread, as I dearly love the late season spectacle of arching spires of sweetly perfumes white perfection.  Here are some recent photos, sorry about the photo quality, all were taken with my phone camera until I go out and buy a decent digital camera.

Cimicifuga simplex and "atropurpurea group" photos (Actaea simplex):

[Lori S.]

Wow, your plantings are just stunning!
C. simplex/ramosa 'Atropurpurea' is (or should I say "was", as I have lost them, unfortunately) a favourite of mine too - the pristine white flowers bursting from the dark, dark buds is very eye-catching.  It would get to 6' for me, while the other cultivars you mention have never gotten anywhere near that height.  Actually, they've done very poorly this year, no blooms even, which is odd given that much of the summer was quite wet.  
I love the fragrance too (though none this year, unfortunately).  
C. simplex blooms so late here - with the flowers often being killed off by frost before the bloom ends - that seeding around has never been a problem... I actually wouldn't mind it at all, especially seeing how magnificent your groves are!!