Flora of North America species comparison

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Circaea alpina subsp. pacifica
Photo is of parent taxon

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

firm, terete, remaining mostly unflattened after pressing, pubescent with at least a few recurved, falcate hairs.
Leaves

petiole 1.5–5 cm;

blade 3–7.5(–11) × 2.5–5.5(–8) cm, margins subentire to minutely denticulate, base usually rounded to subcordate, rarely cordate, apex acute to short acuminate.
Inflorescences

usually densely, less often sparsely, glandular puberulent.
Flowers

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

floral tube 0.3–0.6 mm;

apical notch of petal 1/4–1/3 length of petal;

pedicel and mature fruit combined length 3.5–6.5 mm.
2n

= 22.

Circaea alpina subsp. pacifica
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Cool, temperate deciduous and mixed forests, forest margins, along streams.
Elevation (0–)200–2700(–2900) m. ((0–)700–8900(–9500) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; temperate deciduous and mixed forests; along streams; forest margins; Cool
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies pacifica and subsp. alpina are easily separated by the stems with at least a few hairs and by the minutely denticulate to nearly entire leaf blade margins in subsp. pacifica. The stems of subsp. pacifica remain unflattened in herbarium specimens, whereas the stems of subsp. alpina are flattened and appear to be very narrowly winged after pressing. Subspecies pacifica is usually larger and more robust than subsp. alpina and is similar to some of the Asian subspecies of Circaea alpina in its somewhat thicker, deeper green leaves and less delicate stems. Plants in the areas where the two subspecies are sympatric are sometimes difficult to assign to one subspecies or the other, the few minute hairs on the stem being the most reliable distinguishing feature.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Circaeeae > Circaea > Circaea alpina
Sibling taxa
C. alpina subsp. alpina
Synonyms C. pacifica, C. alpina var. pacifica
Name authority (Ascherson & Magnus) P. H. Raven: Canad. J. Bot. 43: 1396. (1965)
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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