Asci/rum. HYPERICACE^. 283 



interposed glands. Ovary strictly 1-eelled, of 2 or 3, very rarely 4 carpels; styles distinct 

 or united below ; stigmas not capitate. Capsule ovoid. 



2. HYPERICUM. Sepals 5,i approximately equal. Petals 5, deciduous or marcescent. 

 Stamens usually numerous and 3- or .^-adelphous, with or without interposed glands. Ovary 

 of 3 to 5 carpels, 1-celled or more or less completely 3-5-celled ; styles 3 to 5, distinct or 

 united even to the apex; stigmas often capitate. Capsule conical to globose or oblonf. 



1. ASCYRUM, L. St, Peter's-wort. ("Aa-Kvpov, used by Dioscorides 

 for a plant presumably of this order.) — Low suffruticose leafy and smooth plants, 

 with small black-dotted leaves, and nearly solitary light yellow flowers on bibrac- 

 teolate pedicels. A genus of four or five species, peculiar to E. North America, 

 the West Indies, and Central America, but represented in Asia by a single 

 species of the Himalaya region. The propriety of a generic separation from 

 Hypericum is very doubtful. — Gen. no. 607 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 156, 671; 

 Gray, Gen. 111. i. 211, t. 91 ; Benth. & Hook. Gen. i. 164, excl. syn. Isophyllum ; 

 Coulter, Bot. Gaz. xi. 79 ; Engler in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenf. iii. Ab. 6, 

 208, excl. syn. Isophyllum. 



# Diffuse: leaves narrowed at base, not clasping: inner sepals very small or obsolete: 

 petals about as long as outer sepals : styles 2, distinct or united. 



A. pumilum, Michx. Low, 3 to 9 inches high, with spreading branches which are some- 

 what two-edged and winged above : leaves linear-oblong to oval, sometimes spatulate or 

 narrowly obovate, 2 to 4 lines long, about a line wide : pedicels 3 to 6 lines long, bibracteo- 

 late near the base, becoming more or less reflexed : inner sepals obsolete or nearly so : petals 

 obovate, little longer than the ovate acute or obtuse outer sepals : styles as long as the 

 ovary. —Fl. ii. 77; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 156. A. paucijiorum, Nutt. Gen. ii. 15; Chois. in 

 DC. Prodr. i. 555. — Dry ground, Georgia and Florida. 



A. hypericoides, L. Taller, becoming 2 feet high or more, from decumbent and branched 

 at base to somewhat erect and branched above : leaves oblong, varying between narrowly 

 linear and narrowly obovate, 3 to 18 lines long, 1 to 4 lines wide, more or less plainly 

 biglandular at base : pedicels 1 to 3 (rarely reaching 6) lines long, bibracteolate close to the 

 flower : outer sepals ovate or cordate-ovate, obtuse or acute ; inner sepals evident, petaloid : 

 petals linear-oblong to narrowly obovate : styles short — Spec. ii. 788. A. Crux-Andrece, L. 

 Spec. ed. 2, ii. 1107, and of authors. A. midticaule, Michx. Fl. ii. 77. — Damp ground and 

 banks of streams, or dry thickets and woodlands towards the south, from Massachusetts 

 (Nantucket) to Florida, Illinois, and Texas, and extending to tlie West Indies, Mexico, and 

 Central America. Among the extreme southern and southwestern forms there appear 

 some with unusually narrow or short leaves, but they cannot be separated even varietally 

 from the ordinary type, and the attempt to maintain two distinct species seems untenable. 

 In any event, the North American plant should bear its original Linnajan name as above. 



* * Erect and stouter : leaves broader and thicker, more or less clasping : inner sepals 3 

 to 6 lines long, sometimes as long as the outer, seldom petaloid : petals mostly much 

 longer than the outer sepals : styles 3 (rarely 4), generally distinct. 



A. stans, Michx. Stems 1 to 2 feet high, simple or branched above, conspicuously two- 

 edged and even winged: leaves oblong to oval, varying to obovate, closely sessile and 

 somewhat clasping, ^ to 2 inches long and 3 to 8 lines wide : pedicels 2 to 6 lines long, 

 bibracteolate near the middle : outer sepals ovate to orbicular-cordate ; inner ones lanceo- 

 late : styles short. — Michx. in Willd. Spec. iii. 1473, & Fl. ii. 77; Chois. in DC. Prodr. i. 

 555 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 157 ; Gray, Gen. 111. i. 212, t. 91. — Sandy ground in the Atlantic 

 and Gulf States, from New Jersey to Texas. The leaves vary widely, but the usual size 

 is about an inch long and 5 to 6 lines in width. 



A. amplexicaule, Miciix. With the general habit of A. stan.t : leaves ovate-cordate, 

 often broadly so, clasping, half inch or more long and nearly as wide : pedicels 2 to 6 lines 



1 One annmaloiis species (/7. microsepnlum) is 4-merous. 



