Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Enchanter's Nightshade is a native erect perennial forb growing 1 to 2 feet in height on a green usually unbranched stem. The stem frequently has white hair especially in the upper part.

The leaves are are opposite, oblong to egg shaped and taper to a pointed tip; they are on long stalks, shallow teeth on the margins; leaf width is no more than 1/2 the length which can be up to 5 inches. Leaf bases vary on the stem from rounded to somewhat heart-shaped. The upper surface is smooth while the lower surface is paler and softer with fine whitish hair. The teeth have a tiny whitish tip.

The inflorescence is a stem-top raceme along which the small flowers are on long stalks and somewhat evenly and widely spaced. The raceme elongates as flowers open from the bottom of the spike to the top. Some plants may also have axillary racemes rising from the upper leaf axils.

The flowers are small (1/4 to 1/3 inch), without bracts, 2-parted, on hairy stalks that spread outward from the rachis of the raceme, which is also hairy. The corolla has two white to pinkish petals, notched at the tips, broadest just below the tips and then narrowing abruptly to the base. The hairy green calyx has two sepals, placed alternate to the petals, that reflex backward when the flower opens. Flowers are perfect, with two stamens that have greenish-white filaments and whitish anthers, then the pollen turns a reddish brown with age. There is a single style rising from a 2-celled ovary. Both the stamens and style are exserted beyond the petals.

Seed: Fertile flowers produce an ovoid 2-chambered seed capsule covered with hooked hairs that when mature attach themselves to animal fur or human clothing for seed dispersion. Each chamber of the capsule contains a single tear-drop shaped seed.

Habitat: Enchanter's Nightshade is usually found in a woodland setting where it receives dappled sunlight or medium shade. Moisture conditions can range from moist to medium dry. Soils are usually richer. Numerous plants can occur in a given area of a garden as the plant spreads by creeping rhizomatous rootstocks in addition to the seeds. The root system also has a short taproot.

Names: Neither of the scientific names refer to any of the plant parts, which would be more typical. The genus name Circaea, is named after Circe, the enchantress of the old classics. The species, lutetiana, is derived from the old Latin name for the city of Paris - Lutetia - which supposedly was known at one time as the the Witch City. So, both names refer to enchantment or more darkly, bewitchment, but nothing about the plant seems to cause any 'enchanting' effects. [See Gerard's notes below for an explanation]. The species name, C. lutetiana, is a recent reclassification from the older name Circaea quadrisulcata which has resulted in 2 varieties being adopted - C. lutetiana ssp canadensis for our Minnesota species [some references classify it as variety rather than a subspecies] and ssp. quadrisulcata which is native to Asia.

The authorship of the plant classification is given to 2 people: ‘Asch.’ refers to Paul Friedrich August Ascherson (1834-1913), German botanist, Professor at the University of Berlin. His fundamental published work on the flora of Africa is considered important and ‘Magnus’ refers to Paul Wilhelm Magnus (1844-1014), German botanist, author, collector and specialist in algae and fungi, Professor of Botany at Berlin, who took part in a number of scientific expeditions in the Baltic and North Sea areas. Together they modified the original work of 'L.' which refers to Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy.

Comparisons: See notes at bottom of page.