Flora of North America species comparison

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Circaea alpina subsp. alpina

Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
Photo is of parent taxon

dwarf enchanter's nightshade, enchanter's-nightshade, small enchanter's nightshade
Stems

soft, flattened after pressing and appearing winged, glabrous.

Leaves

petiole 0.3–4 cm;

blade 1.5–7.5 × 1.5–5.5 cm, margins conspicuously dentate, base usually cordate to sub-cordate, rarely truncate or rounded, apex short acuminate to acute.

stipules present or absent.
Inflorescences

glabrous or sparsely to densely glandular puberulent.

Flowers

clustered at apex of raceme, opening before elongation of raceme axis;

floral tube a mere constriction between ovary and base of sepals to 0.5 mm;

apical notch of petal 1/4–1/2 length of petal;

pedicel and mature fruit combined length 3.7–6.5 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.
xI> = 7, 10, 11, 15, 18.

2n

= 22.

Circaea alpina subsp. alpina

Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Moist to wet places, on moss covered rocks and logs, cool, temperate and boreal forests.
Elevation 0–2500 m. (0–8200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; CT; DC; IA; ID; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; cool; on moss covered rocks and logs; temperate and boreal forests; Moist to wet places
[BONAP county map]
North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Eurasia; Pacific Islands (New Zealand, Society Islands); Australia
Discussion

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.)
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Circaeeae > Circaea > Circaea alpina Onagraceae
Sibling taxa
C. alpina subsp. pacifica
Subordinate taxa
Name authority unknown W. L. Wagner & Hoch: Syst. Bot. Monogr. 83: 41. (2007)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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