158 NAT. ORDER. — HYPERICINE^. 



sessile ; flowers about the size of those of the Hypericum perforatum, 

 (ex. vol. i. page 55.) It is a native of North America, iu the pine 

 woods of Georgia and Florida, and flowers in July. 



Jfijpericiun hhsutum. Hairy St. John's-wort. This plant rises 

 ft-oin two to three feet high, and sends up an erect, round, hairy stem ; 

 leaves ovate-oblong, downy, ribbed, full of pellucid dots intermixed 

 with a few dark ones ; panicle long, racemose ; calyx lanceolate, 

 somewhat acute ; fringed like the bracteas with numerous black, vis- 

 cid glands, on shortish stalks, such as also terminate the petals ; styles 

 diverging ; flowers of a bright yellow color ; according to Linnaeus 

 they close at night. It is a liardy, herbaceous plant. Native of most 

 parts of Europe, and the northern parts of the United States, in shady 

 places, thickets and hedges, and chiefly on a dry, chalky soil. It 

 flowers in June and July, and sometimes late in August. 



Propagation and Culture. The greater part of the species are 

 very showy, although they have quite a common appearance. The 

 hardy, herbaceous kinds will grow in any common garden-soil, and are 

 easily increased by dividing the plants at the roots or by seeds ; the 

 stove, frame, and green-house herbaceous species should be increased 

 in the same manner. The annual soils only require to be sown in the 

 open border about the beginning of April. The hardy, shrubby kinds, 

 being dwarf and showy, are well fitted for the front of shrubberies ; 

 they will thrive in any common garden soil, and are easily increased 

 by dividing the plants at the root, by seeds, or by cuttings planted un- 

 der a hand-glass. The green-house and frame shrubby kinds will 

 thrive well in a mixture of loam and peat, and young cuttings of them 

 will root freely in sand under a bell-glass. The stove shrubby species 

 will thrive in the same kind of soil as that recommended for the green- 

 house species, and young cuttings of them will root in sand under a 

 bell-glass in heat. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Nearly the same properties per- 

 vade all the species of this extensive genus. Hypericum hircinuni, is 

 promiscuously gathered and sold witli the Hypericum perforatum, be- 



