These herbaceous perennials provide spring and late summer interest. Cimicifuga are, for the moment, included in this genus. Actaea provide spring flowers and fleshy fruits, some with excellent foliage. Both prefer a shadier setting but will take more sunshine on a soil which retains more moisture. However the later flowering species, especially Actaea simplex, can have their leaves scorched in full sun, so at least part shade will allow you to appreciate the foliage, some of which is a deep, dusky purple with spikes of scented flowers.
Much visited by pollinator insects, including solitary bees, honeybees, hoverflies and beetles, the spring flowering ones are especially valuable at a time when generally fewer blooms are available. The spring flowerers also have fleshy fruits which, although toxic to us, are eaten by birds who disperse the seeds with impunity.