428 HYPERICACEAE. [Vou. Il. 
innate, 2-celled, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary 1-7-celled, composed of 1-7 
carpels; styles as many as the carpels; ovules ™, in 2 rows in each cavity, 
anatropous. Fruit mainly capsular with septicidal dehiscence; seeds mainly 
straight; endosperm none. 
About ro genera and 280 species, natives of temperate and warm regions, a few extending into 
sub-arctic or alpine districts. 
Sepals 4, in unequal pairs; petals 4. 1. Ascyrum. 
Sepals and petals 5. 
Petals yellow. 
Leaves normal, not reduced to scales. 2. Hypericum. 
Leaves reduced to minute appressed scales. 3. Sarothra. 
Flowers pink or greenish purple. 4. Triadenum. 
1. ASCYRUM L.. Sp. PlA787= | 1753: 
Leafy glabrous low shrubs, with the aspect of Hypericum. Flowers bright yellow. 
Sepals 4, in 2 pairs, the exterior ones broad and round, the interior smaller and narrower. 
Petals 4, oblique or slightly contorted, deciduous, Stamens «, distinct, or united in clus- 
ters. 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 5 species, natives of eastern and southeastern North America, the West Indies and 
Central America. 
Erect, 1°-2° high; leaves clasping; styles 3-4. 1. A. stans. 
Diffusely branched, 5/-10' high; leaves sessile; styles 2. 2. A. hypericoides. 
/, 
NNVZ Vy 1. Ascyrum stans Michx. St. Peter’s- 
{y = Sent wort. (Fig. 2442.) 
RS Ce W Ascyrum stans Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 2:77. 1803. 
Erect, simple or with a few upright branches, 
1°-2° high. Stems and branches 2-edged or 
slightly winged; leaves clasping, erect or as- 
cending, oval, or broadly oblong, 9’/-18’ long, 
5//-7/’ wide, obtuse, thick; cyme terminal, few- 
flowered; pedicels 4’’/-6’’ long, 2-bracted below 
the middle; flowers 8//-12/’ broad; outer 
sepals nearly orbicular, 4/’-6’’ long, cordate, the 
inner lanceolate, 3/’-6’’ long; petals obovate, 
longer than the sepals; styles 3 or 4, short; cap- 
sule ovoid, about 3/’ long. 
In dry sandy soil, especially in pine barrens, 
Tong Island, southern New Jersey and eastern 
Pennsylvania to Florida, west to Texas. July-Aug. 
2. Ascyrum hypericoides L. St. An- 
drew’s Cross. (Fig. 2443.) 
Ascyrum hypericoides I, Sp. Pl. 788. 1753. 
Ascyrum Crux-Andreae \,. Sp. Pl. Ed. 2, 1107. 1763. 
Low, much branched from the base, diffuse or 
ascending, 5/-10’ high. Stems and branches 
flattened and 2-edged; leaves oblong or obovate, 
sessile, narrowed and 2-glandular at the base, 
¥4/-14’ long, 2//-4/’ wide, thin, obtuse; flowers 
terminal or also axillary; pedicels 1/’-3/’ long; 
2-bracted near the summit; flowers 6//-9// 
broad; outer sepals oval or ovate, sometimes 
cordate, 4’’-6’’ long, 2’/-4’’ wide, obtuse, the 
inner narrower and mainly shorter; petals ob- 
long-linear, about equalling the outer sepals; 
styles 2; capsule ovoid, about 2/’ long. 
In dry sandy soil, Nantucket, Mass., to Florida, 
Illinois, the Indian Territory and Texas. Ascendsto 
2800 ft. in Virginia. July-Aug. 
