1. Sepals 4, in 2 very unequal pairs; petals 4; stamens many, distinct 



1. Ascyrum 



1. Sepals 5; petals 5; stamens many to few, often in 3 to 5 clusters 



2. Hypericum 



1. Ascyrum L. St. Peter's-wort 



Low smooth pale essentially evergreen shrubs; stems simple or sparsely branched, 

 when young 2-edged or winged; leaves usually numerous, small; flowers solitary or 

 in small cymules, pedicellate, each subtended by a pair of bractlets; sepals 4, herba- 

 ceous, the 2 outer ones broad and leaflike, compressed and persistent, the 2 inner 

 ones usually much smaller; petals 4, pale-yellow, oblique, fugacious, cruciate, 

 spreading, convolute in the bud; stamens numerous, the filaments distinct and not 

 noticeably in clusters, marcescent; capsule 1 -celled, ovoid, 2- to 4-valved, enclosed 

 by the sepals; seeds numerous, black, reticulate. 



Five species, mainly in southeastern United States; merged with Hypericum by 

 some authors. 



1. Styles 3 or 4; inner sepals only slightly smaller than the outer ones that are 

 to 2 cm. long and 15 mm. wide; leaves oblong-elliptic, the upper 

 ones somewhat cordate and clasping 1. A. stans. 



1. Styles 2; inner sepals minute or obsolete; leaves mostly linear- to oblong- 

 oblanceolate, narrowed at base 2. A. hypericoides. 



1. Ascyrum stans Michx. St. Peter's-wort. 



Plant with stems erect or suberect, mostly 3-8 dm. high; leaves oblong-elliptic, 

 rounded to somewhat acute at apex, the upper ones somewhat cordate and clasping, 

 coriaceous, to about 3 cm. long and 15 mm. wide; pedicels to 1 cm. long, with 

 lanceolate bractlets 3-5 mm. below the calyx; outer 2 sepals broadly ovate to sub- 

 orbicular, cordate at base, acute at apex, 1-1.5 cm. long, about as wide; inner 2 

 sepals lanceolate, 7-14 mm. long, to 4 mm. wide; petals showy, obliquely obovate, 

 commonly exceeding the sepals, to 15 mm. wide; styles 3 or 4; capsule exserted at 

 maturity. Hypericum stans (Michx.) Adams & Robson. 



In sandy bogs, swampy woods and moist grasslands in e. Tex., June- Sept.; from 

 Fla. to Tex., n. to N.Y., N.J., e. Pa., Ky., Tenn., Ark. and Okla. 



2. Ascyrum hypericoides L. St. Andrew's-cross. 



Plant with reddish-brown stems that are erect-ascending to decumbent and some- 

 what diffuse, simple or more or less branched from the base or above the base, to 

 1 m. or more high or long, the bark exfoliating in shreds; leaves linear to oblanceo- 

 late. more or less narrowed at the sessile base, rounded to obtuse at apex, to about 

 3 cm. long and 8 mm. wide, the margin somewhat revolute; pedicels 3-6 mm. long, 

 the bractlets borne near apex; outer 2 sepals ovate to elliptic, rounded-cuneate to 

 subcordate at base, obtuse to acute at apex, to 12 mm. long and about as wide; 

 inner 2 sepals minute or obsolete; petals narrowly oblong-elliptic, about equaling 

 the outer sepals, to 4 mm. wide; styles 2; capsule included or exserted at maturity. 

 Hypericum hypericoides (L.) Crantz. 



Mostly in light sandy soils in open pine-hardwood and hardwood forests, 

 thickets, grasslands and in bogs in s.e. Okla. (McCurtain Co.) and the e. third of 

 Tex., May-Nov.; from Fla. to Tex. and e. Mex., s. to Hond. and the W.I., n. to 

 N.E., Ky., Mo. and Okla. 



This species is highly variable in the size and shape of its leaves and outer calyx 

 lobes, and some of our coastal material might eventually be segregated as a small 

 narrow-leaved variant. Not only decumbent plants with several basal stems and 

 oblanceolate leaves, segregated as var. multicaule (Michx.) Fern. [Hypericum 

 hypericoides var. multicaule (Michx.) Fosb.], are to be found in Oklahoma and 



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