ONAGRACEAE EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY 
ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE 
Circaea lutetiana L. 
The Enchanter’s Nightshade is a branching perennial herb 
whose slender stems, swollen at the nodes, grow 1-2 feet high. 
It is common in woods from Nova Scotia to Ontario and North 
Dakota, south to Georgia and Ng 
Kansas. The genus name is sy ¥ 
derived from Circe, enchantress cia C2 
of the Odyssey. ee. 
The slender-petioled, ovate rs 
leaves are 2-4 inches long, n- 
acuminate at apex and with the 
margins having widely spaced 
teeth. 2 
The small white flowers are 
produced from June to Aug- 
ust. The flower parts are at- 
tached above the ovary. The 
calyx tube is prolonged only a 
short distance beyond the 
ovary and is then divided into 
2 lobes which are turned back. 
Filling the end of the calyx 
tube is a cup-shaped disk to 
which the 2 white petals and 
2 stamens are attached. The 
style is slender and unbranched. 
The pedicels become reflexed 
in fruit as shown. The fruit is densely covered 
with hooked hairs, making it a sort of bur. It 
contains only 1 or 2 seeds and does not open. 
The Small Enchanter’s Nightshade, Circaea alpina L., is a low 
smooth perennial 2-8 inches high, which favors cold places, woods 
and rocky cliffs. Leaves are somewhat heart shaped at the base and 
the white flowers greatly resemble those of the above species but are 
smaller. The 1-celled bur fruits are narrowly obovoid and the hairs 
are soft and fine. 
A form between these two and growing along with the Enchanter’s 
Nightshade is Circaea intermedia Ehrh., not commonly named. It 
grows 8-16 inches high and the leaves are thinner, ovate and more 
or less heart shaped, and the teeth are prominent. Minute bracts 
are usually present at the base of each flower. 
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