Which poisonous North American plant has white berries nicknamed doll's eyes?

The poisonous North American plant with white berries nicknamed doll’s eyes is white baneberry.

White baneberry is Actaea pachypoda, a perennial of eastern Canada and the eastern and Midwestern United States. Its striking white berries have a dark scar at the tip, making them resemble tiny porcelain eyes on red stalks. That appearance gives the plant its memorable nickname, doll’s-eyes.

The entire plant is considered poisonous, but the berries are especially dangerous. They contain cardiac toxins that can affect heart muscle; swallowing them may cause severe illness, cardiac arrest, or death. Birds can eat and disperse the berries without being affected in the same way as humans.

White baneberry is easy to confuse with red baneberry, Actaea rubra, a close relative that also produces toxic berries. Snowberry has white fruit too, but its berries lack the distinctive black “pupil” scar. Mayapple is another poisonous woodland plant, yet it has a very different leaf and fruit structure.