Index / Search / Circaea alpina

§1 Plant — species · Onagraceae

Circaea alpina L.

vernacular small enchanter's nightshade


USDA
CIAL
GBIF
3188797
Rank
species
small enchanter's nightshade (Circaea alpina)
Platephotograph · wanderingedenCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Onagraceae Juss.
Genus
Circaea
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
80 min.
Precipitation
16–55 in/yr
pH range
5–6.6
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
0.9 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
White
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
900,000
Propagation
seed, bare root, tubers
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 11 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CIAL ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3188797 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z