Circaea alpina
Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
enchanter's-nightshade, small enchanter's-nightshade
3–50 cm.
petiole 0.3–5 cm;
blade usually ovate to broadly ovate, rarely suborbiculate, 1.5–7.5(–11) × 1.5–5.5(–8) cm.
stipules present or absent.
0.7–12(–17) cm.
opening before elongation of axis, corymbiform;
pedicels erect or ascending at anthesis, 0.7–3.5 mm, with or without a minute, setaceous bracteole at base;
floral tube a mere constriction to 0.6 mm, funnelform to very broadly so, nectary wholly within floral tube;
sepals white or pink, sometimes purple tinged apically, oblong or ovate to broadly ovate, 0.8–1.8(–2.2) × 0.6–1.3 mm;
petals white, obtriangular or obdeltate to obovate or broadly obovate, 0.6–2 × 0.6–1.8 mm;
apical notch to 1/2 length of petal;
filaments 0.7–2.2 mm;
style 0.6–2.3 mm.
floral tube present or, rarely, absent;
sepals 2 or 4 (very rarely 3), deciduous with floral tube, petals, and stamens;
petals yellow, white, pink, red, rarely in combination.
clavoid, tapering smoothly to pedicel, without ribs or grooves, 1.6–2.6 × 0.5–1.2 mm, 1-locular, 1-seeded;
pedicel and mature fruit combined length 3.5–7.8 mm.
Circaea alpina
Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
Subspecies 6 (2 in the flora).
Circaea alpina inhabits moist places, and is also found on moss covered rocks and logs in cold temperate and boreal forests at high altitudes and latitudes throughout the northern hemisphere and in the tropics and subtropics at high elevations in southern and southeastern Asia, at elevations 0–5000 m.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Genera 21, species 582 (16 genera, 246 species in the flora).
Onagroideae encompass the main lineage of the family, after the early branching of Ludwigia (R. A. Levin et al. 2003, 2004). This large and diverse lineage is distinguished by the presence of a floral tube beyond the apex of the ovary; sepals deciduous with the floral tube, petals, and stamens; pollen shed in monads (or tetrads in Chylismia sect. Lignothera and all but one species of Epilobium); ovular vascular system exclusively transseptal (R. H. Eyde 1981); ovule archesporium multicellular (H. Tobe and P. H. Raven 1996); and change in base chromosome number from x = 8 in Ludwigia to x = 10 or x = 11 at the base of Onagroideae (Raven 1979; Levin et al. 2003). Molecular work (Levin et al. 2003, 2004) substantially supports the traditional tribal classification (P. A. Munz 1965; Raven 1979, 1988); tribes are recognized to delimit major branches within the phylogeny of Onagroideae, where the branches comprise strongly supported monophyletic groups of one or more genera.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Stems glabrous; leaf blade margins conspicuously dentate, base usually cordate to subcordate, rarely truncate or rounded. | subsp. alpina |
1. Stems with at least a few recurved, falcate hairs; leaf blade margins subentire to minutely denticulate, base usually rounded to subcordate, rarely cordate. | subsp. pacifica |
BC
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
