284 HYPERICACEiE. Hypericum. 



long, with very small bractlets near the base or none : outer sepals ovate-cordate, resembling 

 the leaves; inner ones linear-lanceolate: styles about as long as the ovary. — Fl. ii. 77; 

 Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 157. A. Cuhense, Griseb. Plant. Cub. 40. Hypericum tetrapetalum, Lam. 

 Diet. iv. 153. — Low ground, Georgia and Florida. (Also Cuba.) 



2. HYPERICUM, Tourn. St. John's-wort. (An ancient Greek name.) 



— Herbs or shrubs, with cymose yellow or flesh-colored flowers, and more or 



less black-dotted and pellucid-punctate sessile leaves. Very variable in size of 



leaves, sepals, and flowers. A genus of about 200 species, widely distributed 



but chiefly in north temperate regions. In North America almost exclusively 



restricted to the Atlantic region. — Inst. 254, t. 131 ; L. Gen. no. 606; Torr. & 



Gray, Fl. i. 157, incl. Elodea ; Gray, Gen. 111. i. 213, t. 92, 93 ; Benth. & Hook. 



Gen. i. 165; Coulter, Bot. Gaz. xi. 81, incl. Elodea; Keller in Engl. & Prantl, 



Nat. Pflanzenf. iii. Ab. 6, 208. Sarothra, L. Gen. ed. 6, no. 383. Isophyllum, 



Spach, Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 2, v. 367. Elodea, Juss. Gen. 255, not Michx. 



Elodes, Adans. Fam. ii. 444. Triadenum, Raf. Med. Repos. hex. 2, v. 352. 



There are at least thirty-five additional generic synonyms. 



H. SETosuM, L. Spec. ii. 787, H. elAtum, Ait. Kew. iii. 104, and H. triplinerve. 

 Vent. Hort. Cels. t. 58, all credited to North America, should be excluded, since the first 

 proves to be a complex founded upon descriptive phrases, and the other two are Old World 

 species.i 



§ 1. Isophyllum, Spach (as genus). Sepals and petals 4 (occasionally 5) : 

 stamens numerous and distinct, with no interposed glands : styles 3, at first united 

 into a long sharp beak, becoming distinct: capsule 1 -celled, with projecting pla- 

 centae : branching shrubs, with yellow flowers. — Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 2, v. 367. 



H. naicrosepalum, Gray. Decumbent or erect, half to a foot high or more ; leaves very 

 small, oblong-linear and obtuse, 3 to 4 lines long and hardly a line wide : flowers showy, 

 about an inch broad, clustered at the summits of the branches: sepals slightly unequal, 

 linear to oblong, mostly obtuse, much shorter than the somewhat unequal petals : capsule 

 oblong-ovate, 2 to 3 lines long ; seeds oblong, minutely striate and pitted. — Gray in Wats. 

 Bibl. Index, 456 ; Coulter, Bot. Gaz. xi. 82. Ascyrum mia-osepalnm, Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 

 157; Gray, Gen. 111. i. 212; Chapm. Fl. 39. Isophyllum Drummondii, Spach, 1. c. 368. — 

 Georgia and Florida. A species distinctly intermediate between Ascyrum and Hypericum, 

 and referred to either genus by botanists. Its association witli Ascyrum, however, depends 

 only upon the usually 4-merous flowers, while in every otlier feature it is distinctly a 

 Hypericum. 



§ 2. Hypericum proper. Sepals and petals 5, the latter deciduous or marces- 



cent, convolute in aestivation : stamens mostly numerous, either distinct or united 



at the very base into 3 or 5 clusters, and with no interposed glands : styles 3 to 5, 



distinct or united; stigmas often capitate: capsule 1 -celled, or 3-5-celled: shrubs 



or herbs, with yellow flowers. 



* Stamens very numerous, either distinct or united into sets. 



-t— Styles 5, united below, distinct above ; stigmas capitate : capsule 5-celled : tall perennial 

 herbs with large leaves and flowers. 



H. Ascyron, L. Usually branching above, 2 to 5 feet high : leaves ovate-lanceolate, clasp- 

 ing, mostly acute, 2 to 5 inches long, about an inch wide, pellucid-punctate with elongated 

 dots : flowers 1 to 2 inches broad, solitary at the ends of branches and in terminal cymes : 

 sepals lanceolate to ovate, acute, 4 to 6 lines long : capsule ovoid-conical, 9 lines long ; seeds 



1 For fuller statement see Bot. Gaz. xi. 82. 



