The plants produce fruits that are rounded to 3-lobed and green with copper spots when young, turning red in late summer.

[5] M. racemosum closely resembles members of the genus Veratrum, a highly toxic group of plants to which it is distantly related, as well as baneberry.

The most robust and profuse occurrences of this plant are typically found in partial shade and deep, moist, soft soils.

In the western part of North America an example typical habitat would be in a shaded ravine or riparian corridor with common understory associates of Dryopteris arguta, Trillium ovatum and Adiantum jordanii.

[9] The plant, like the closely related Polygonatum (Solomon's seal), is suitable for cultivation in moist, humus-rich soil in a woodland setting or in dappled shade.

[13] The plant becomes fibrous and bitter after it completes flowering and seed-setting, but the tender young shoots can be stripped of their leaves, simmered in water and eaten.

Ojibwa harvested the roots of this plant and cooked them in lye water overnight to remove the bitterness and neutralize their strong laxative qualities.

Native Americans boiled the roots to make tea for medicinal purposes, including to treat rheumatism, kidney issues, and wounds and back injuries.