Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Myrtales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Circaea canadensis
FAMILY
Onagraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Canada Enchanter's Nightshade at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The complicated synonymy is perhaps an example of a too-zealous attempt to have nomenclature reflect subtleties of relationship and evolutionary divergence, our understanding of which is unclear and changeable. Read more in Weakley's Flora (2023)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis
FAMILY
Onagraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 10 (2021)
Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Circaea canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 137-05-001:
Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis FAMILY Onagraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Circaea quadrisulcata var. canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Circaea latifolia
COMMON NAME:
Canada Enchanter's Nightshade
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm200422_4055
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Leaves long-stalked, ovate, shallowly and irregularly toothed, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm0507o_09
July Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Flowers usually well-spaced on terminal racemes, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm160702_139b
July Jackson County NC
Two deeply notched petals, one of only a few plants with 2-petaled flowers, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm190801_0394
August Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190801_0396
August Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190801_0396b
August Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Fruit uncinate-bristly [the bristles have hooks at their tips], per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm190801_0397
August Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm210824_3004
August Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Leaves irregularly toothed, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
)
JK Marlow jkm210824_3005
August Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
Sam Pratt sbp080822_0925
August Rutherford County NC
Pearson's Falls
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Circaea canadensis
FAMILY
Onagraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis
FAMILY
Onagraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 10
Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Circaea canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 137-05-001:
Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis
FAMILY
Onagraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Circaea quadrisulcata var. canadensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Circaea latifolia
331
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Mesic, nutrient-rich forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains of GA & NC, uncommon in SC Mountains & NC Coastal Plain (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves have long petioles.
FLOWER:
Summer
White
2-merous
2 sepals
2 petals
Inferior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer
Nut-like
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p136
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p145
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p094
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p263
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p148?
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p184
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p110
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".