HYPEEICACEAE. 



245 



ments slender. Anthers 2-celled, versatile. Ovary sessile, 1-celled, with 

 parietal placentae, or 3-7-celled, with axile placentae. Stigmas often capi- 

 tate. Fruit a septicidally dehiscent capsule seated in the persistent calyx. 

 Seeds small, without endosperm. About 10 genera and 300 species, widely 

 distributed. 



1. ASCYRUM L. 



Leafy glabrous low shrubs, with narrow leaves and yellow flowers. Sepals 

 4, in 2 pairs, the exterior ones broad and round, the interior smaller and nar- 

 rower. Petals 4, oblique or slightly contorted, deciduous. Stamens oo, dis- 

 tinct, or united in clusters. Ovary 1-celled, with 2-4 parietal placentae; styles 

 2-4. Capsule 1-celled, 2-4-valved, dehiscent at the placentae. [Greek, not 

 rough.] About 6 species, of North and Central America and the West Indies. 

 Type species: Ascyrum hypericoides L. 



1. Ascyrum macrosepalum S. 

 Brown. BERMUDA ST. ANDREW'S 

 CROSS. (Fig. 269.) An erect shrub, 

 l-2-i high, with slender leafy 

 branches. Leaves linear-oblong, ses- 

 sile, 5"-7" long, l"-ir' wide, dull 

 green, obtusish, but minutely apicu- 

 late at the apex, narrowed to the 

 base, copiously punctate, the midvein 

 prominent beneath ; cymes terminal, 

 1-few-flowered ; outer sepals broadly 

 ovate, obtuse, 5"-6" long, 3i"-4i" 

 wide, subcordate ; petals oblique, 

 spreading in 2 nearly parallel pairs, 

 linear-oblong, acute, 5"-6" long, 14"- 

 2" wide, fugacious, bright yellow; 

 capsule oblong, narrowed at both 

 ends, apiculate, about as long as the 

 outer sepals, twice as long as the 

 narrow, inner ones ; seeds greenish- 

 brown, oblong, obtuse at each end, 

 about \" long and \" thick. [Ascy- 

 rum Crux-andreae of Lefroy; A. 

 hypericoides of Eeade, H. B. Small, 

 Hemsley, Moore and Verrill ; Hy- 

 pericum? of Jones.] 



Frequent in marshes and on hill- 

 sides. Endemic. Its nearest relative 

 is A. linif<)liiii Spach, of the south- 

 eastern United States and the Bahamas. 



from which it differs by larger leaves ; larger, broadly ovate cordate sepals : and in 

 its seeds. These features were first recorded in Journal of the New York Botanical 

 Garden 13 : 192, 1912. The species presumably originated in Bermuda from seeds of 

 A. UnifuUinn transported by the wind. 



Hypericum perforatum L., SHRUBBY ST. JOHN'S-WORT, European, is 

 mentioned by Eeade as rare in waste grounds prior to 1883. It has not been 

 seen by any of the recent collectors, and, being of northern distribution in 

 Europe and naturalized in North America, would not be likely to become 

 naturalized in these islands. The plant is an erect perennial herb with blunt 

 narrow leaves and cymose yellow flowers, the 5 petals black-dotted. Eeade 's 

 statement of its occurrence is copied by H. B. Small. 



Vismia guianensis (Aubl.) Pers., GUIANA VISMIA, South American, 

 recorded by Jones in 1873, is a shrub with quadrangular twigs, opposite, 



