ONAGRACEAE 



EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY 



ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE 



Ctrcaea liiietiana 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 

 Kansas. The genus name is 

 derived from Circe, enchantress 

 of the Odyssey. 



The slender-petioled, ovate 

 leaves are 2-4 inches long, 

 acuminate at apex and with the 

 margins having widely spaced 

 teeth. 



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 

 1 lobes which are turned back. 

 Filling the end of the calyx 

 tube is a cup-shaped disk to 

 which the 2 white petals and 

 1 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 i 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 tavors 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 i-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. 



213 



