Herbs glabrous or pubescent with at least a few recurved, falcate hairs, glabrous or glandular puberulent distally; stolons with apical tuber. Stems 3–50 cm. Leaves: petiole 0.3–5 cm; blade usually ovate to broadly ovate, rarely subor­biculate, 1.5–7.5(–11) × 1.5–5.5(–8) cm. Inflorescences 0.7–12(–17) cm. Flowers opening before elongation of axis, corymbiform; pedicels erect or ascending at anthesis, 0.7–3.5 mm, with or without a minute, setaceous bracteole at base; floral tube a mere constriction to 0.6 mm, funnelform to very broadly so, nectary wholly within floral tube; sepals white or pink, sometimes purple tinged apically, oblong or ovate to broadly ovate, 0.8–1.8(–2.2) × 0.6–1.3 mm; petals white, obtriangular or obdeltate to obovate or broadly obovate, 0.6–2 × 0.6–1.8 mm; apical notch to 1/2 length of petal; filaments 0.7–2.2 mm; style 0.6–2.3 mm. Capsules clavoid, tapering smoothly to pedicel, without ribs or grooves, 1.6–2.6 × 0.5–1.2 mm, 1-locular, 1-seeded; pedicel and mature fruit combined length 3.5–7.8 mm.

Subspecies 6 (2 in the flora): North America, Europe, Asia.

Circaea alpina inhabits moist places, and is also found on moss covered rocks and logs in cold temperate and boreal forests at high altitudes and latitudes throughout the northern hemisphere and in the tropics and subtropics at high elevations in southern and southeastern Asia, at elevations 0–5000 m.

Lower Taxa

• Circaea alpina subsp. alpina
• Circaea alpina subsp. pacifica (Ascherson & Magnus) P. H. Raven