Circaea alpina
Circaea alpina, commonly called alpine enchanter's nightshade, small enchanter's nightshade, or dwarf enchanter's nightshade is a 10–30 cm tall perennial herb found in cool forests of the Northern Hemisphere.
Description
The leaves are opposite, ovate, 2–6 cm and coarsely dentate. The petioles have a wing beneath. The flowers and fruits are clustered near the top of the fruiting raceme; each raceme bears 15 or less white or pink flowers in mid-May through early September. Each flower has two white to light pink petals long with two lobes. The two white sepals are long. The fruit is a small bur with one seed. C. alpina can reproduce vegetatively and via stolons.Taxonomy
Circaea alpina was given its scientific name by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It is classified in the genus Circaea within the Onagraceae family. According to Plants of the World Online it has six accepted subspecies:Circaea alpina subsp. alpina – Widespread in the northern hemisphereCircaea alpina subsp. angustifolia – Native to China and TibetCircaea alpina subsp. caulescens – Native to AsiaCircaea alpina subsp. imaicola – Native to southern AsiaCircaea alpina subsp. micrantha – Northern Pakistan to Central China and northern MyanmarCircaea alpina subsp. pacifica – Western North AmericaCircaea alpina has synonyms of the species or one of its subspecies, 16 of which are species.