158 HYPERICACE.E. Hypericuivt. 



Glands between the parcels ot filaments none. Styles 3-5, distinct or 

 more or less united, persistent. Capsule usually membranaceous, 1-ceIIed 

 with 3-5 parietal placentse, or 3-5-celled by the placentae meeting in the axis. — 

 Herbaceous or shrubby plants. Flowers yellow, solitary or cymose at the 

 summit of the stem and branches. 



§ 1. Stamens very numerous, 'polyadelphous : capsule 5- {rarely 6-7-) 

 celled ; the dilated placentce retrojiexed into the middle of the cells. 

 Perennial herbs : leaves ample: flowers very large. 



.' 1. H. pyramida.tum (Ait.) : stem quadrangular and usually branching 

 above ; leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, partly clasping, mem- 

 branaceous, minutely pellucid-punctate ; sepals ovate or oblong, acute, scarce- 

 ly one-third the length of the petals ; styles as long as the stamens, connate 

 below, at length distinct.— ^(7. A'eii'. (ed. 1.) 3. p. 103; Wilkl. sp. 3. p. 

 1444; Vent.^Malmais. t. US; J)C. prodr. 1. p. 545. H. amplexicaule, 

 Lam. diet. 4. p. 141. H. macrocarpon, M?c/(.:r. fl. 2. p. 82. H. ascyroides, 

 IVilld. I. c; Pursh, ft. 2. p. 374; Bigel. ft. Bost. p. 279 ; DC. I. c; Hook, 

 ft. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 109. 



Banks of rivers, Canada ! to Pennsylvania ! Avest to Ohio. July. — Stem 

 2-5 feet high, nearly terete below: branches erect, 4-angled ; tAvo of the 

 angles often much strongest. Leaves 2-5 inches long, acutish or sometimes 

 obfuse. Flowers li inch in diameter, few or solitary at the ends of the 

 branches, usually several in a leafy cyme at the summit of the stem ; the 

 central flowers on short pedicels; the lateral peduncles often elongated and 

 1-flowered. Petals obliquely and rather narrowly obovate, sometimes 6. 

 Styles occasionally 6 or 7, recurved at the extremity : stigmas capitate. Cap- 

 sule ovoid-conical, an inch long. Seeds terete, slender, with a slightly wing- 

 ed raphe.— We are confident that there is but a single North American spe- 

 cies of this section, upon which the H. pyramidatum of Alton must have 

 been founded : we therefore adopt the oldest name. We have not seen the 

 figure of Ventenat: the character "'stylis brevibus crassis," Choisy, in DC. 

 is not applicable to our plant, 



§2. Stamens very numerous, more or less j)olyadelphous: capside 3-5- 

 celled by the meeting of the placentce in the axis: placentce either dis- 

 tinct or more or less cohering with each other, seminiferous posteriorly 

 {ne.vt the valves.) Perennial herbs or under-shrub$. 



* Shrubby : capsule pcnlacarpcllanj. 



v^ 2. H. Kalmianum ("Linn.) : very much corymbosely branched; branches 

 quadrangular with 2 ol the angles slightly Avinged ; leaves croAvded, Hnear- 

 sublanceolate ; obtuse, a little narroAved t'oAvard the base ; cymes fastigiate, 

 3-7-iiowered ; sepals ovate-lanceolate, rather obtuse, about half the length of 

 the petals ; styles connate at the base.— Willd. sp. 3. p. 1438 ; Pursh, fl. 2. 

 p. 374 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 109. 



Banks of rivers, Canada and around the Great Lakes ; Falls of Niagara, 

 Cooper! &c. Fort Gratiot, Dr. Pitcher ! (Virginia, Kalm ex Linn.; but 

 Kalm's specimens we suspect Avere collected in Canada.) August. — A shrub 

 li feet high. Leaves an inch long, 2-3 lines Avide, slightly glaucous, with 

 revolute margins. Petals obovate, very oblique. Styles hardly longer than 

 the ovary, very slender. Capsule ovate. — Apparently an exclusively north- 

 ern species. 



