Tolerates most conditions, but prefers a humus-rich moist soil in light shade doing well amongst shrubs and in light woods. Also succeeds in denser shade. Plants are hardy to at least -20°c. A very ornamental plant. Actaea rubra is part of a circumboreal complex and is very similar to the black-fruited European species A . spicata (L.) with which it is sometimes considered conspecific. The western North American plants of A . rubra have been called A . arguta and were distinguished on the basis of their smaller berries, more pubescent leaves, and narrow, more dissected leaflets. Those distinctions, however, are weak; specimens from the West often have fruits and leaves similar to those of plants from the East. A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes.

None known

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame or outdoors in a moist shaded seedbed. The seed has a limited viability, it can also be sown in spring in a cold frame but germination rates may be poor. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer of the following year. Division in March or October.

Moist shady areas, mostly in deciduous forests but also in mixed coniferous forests, open pine or spruce woodlands, swales, stream banks and swamps from sea level to 3500 metres.