ST. JOHN'S WORT TRIBE 147 



6. Trailing St. John's \A^ort {H. humifiisum).— Stems prostrate, 

 somewhat 2-edged ; leaves oblong, obtuse, perforated with clear dots ; 

 flowers somewhat cymose ; stamens rarely more than fifteen in number. 

 Plant perennial. This pretty little St. John's Woit has its blossoms of the 

 same hue and form as all the other species, but its mode of growth is very 

 different from any of the preceding. Its slender stems, from three to nine 

 inches long, covered during July with blossoms, spread over stone walls, 

 gravelly heaths, or boggy pastures. Both corolla and calyx have at their 

 edges a few scattered black dots, but not distinct enough to entitle the 

 plant to a place in the next group. This St. John's Wort, thovigh some- 

 what local, is plentiful in many places ; it is one of the prettiest plants of 

 the genus, and well adapted for growing in pots. The odour is rather dis- 

 agreeable. 



* * * Styles 3 ; sepals fringed loith glands. 



7. Mountain St. John's Wort (H. montdnum). — Stem erect, round, 

 smooth ; leaves oblong, sessile, smooth, with glandular dots near the margin; 

 sepals acute, fringed with shortly-stalked glands. Plant perennial. This is 

 not an unfrequent plant in hilly limestone districts, where there is a growth 

 of underwood ; and it also occurs on many chalky or gravelly soils, flowering 

 in July and August. Its stem is about two feet high ; the leaves are rather 

 large and distant. Though the yellow petals are without glands, the calyx 

 and bracts are beautifully fringed with them, and form a very distinctive 

 mark in this species from any of those yet described. The glands, which 

 abound in the genus Hypericum, as well as in many other plants, contain in 

 all this family a deep red juice in the cells. Glands may be described as 

 cellular bodies containing some peculiar secretion, and situated on or below 

 the skin or cuticle which covers the surface of the plant. Stalked glands are 

 very singular objects, being elevated on a little stalk, which is in some cases 

 simple, in others branched. Link described them as either simple or com- 

 pound, the former being composed of a single cell, and placed upon a hair 

 acting as a direct conduit, occasionally interrupted by divisions ; the latter 

 kind consisting of several cells, and seated upon a stalk, containing several 

 conduits ; and thus these delicate dots are seen by the microscopic observer 

 to have a most perfect and beautiful structure. 



8. Hairy St. John's Wort {H. hirsuhm). — Stem erect, nearly round, 

 downy ; leaves egg-shaped or oblong, downy beneath, slightly stalked. Plant 

 perennial. This species, which grows in woods and thickets on limestone 

 soils, is well marked by the downy nature of its somewhat large leaves. Its 

 general aspect much resembles that of the mountain species. It flowers in 

 June and July. 



9. Small Upright St. John's Wort (H. piUchrum). — Stem erect, 

 round, smooth ; leaves heart-shaped, clasping the stem, smooth ; sepals obtuse, 

 fringed with sessile glands ; petals fringed with glands. Plant perennial. 

 This is a very slender plant, bearing many flowers at the top of its stem. It 

 may, indeed, like some of the other species, be described as it was by Cowper, 

 " Hypericum, all bloom ;" for in May and June its loose panicles are so con- 

 spicuous that we hardly notice its small leaves. The flowers are deep yellow, 



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