BICKNELL: FERNS AND FLOWERING PLANTS OF NANTUCKET 611 
branched below the middle; leaves narrowly oblong, obtuse, 
sessile or subclasping, 3-5-nerved, 1-3 cm. long, 2-6 mm. wide; 
branches slender, openly ascending, bearing dichotomous many- 
flowered bracteolate cymes, the bracts subulate; sepals oblong to 
lanceolate, obtuse or acutish, equaling or shorter than the cap- 
sules; capsules greenish to reddish purple, small, 2-4 mm. long, 
ellipsoid to conic-ovoid. 
Maine to Maryland and North Carolina. Type from Nan- 
tucket, damp roadside west of the town, Sept. 20, 1899, in flower 
and fruit, in herb. N. Y. Botanical Garden. Also collected on 
Nantucket Sept. 8, 1904, Miacomet Pond, and Sept. 9, 1904, 
near the town. 
This plant has been known to me for many years, having been 
collected first in York County, Maine, then on Nantucket, on 
Marthas Vineyard, where it is more common than I have found 
it elsewhere, and on Long Island. It is found in -damp 
sandy places, usually growing with H. canadense, H. majus, H. 
mutilum, and H. boreale, one or all, and is not less distinct in 
appearance from each of them than are they among themselves. 
It differs from H. canadense in broader often subclasping leaves, _ 
more diffuse inflorescence, and smaller often ellipsoid capsules. 
Narrower leaves, more spreading and compound inflorescence, 
and smaller capsules distinguish it readily from H. majus, while it 
stands apart from H. mutilum by stricter, less branched habit, 
narrower less clasping leaves and longer, or more ellipsoid, purple 
capsules. Certain specimens approach H. canadense in the form 
and color of the pods, other examples seem nearer to H. mutilum, 
and it may well be questioned whether it be not a hybrid of these . 
two species or, indeed, partly of H. canadense and H. boreale as 
some specimens might seem to suggest. But all of our small 
St. John’s-worts of this group are nearly related and, considering 
the extended coastwise range of H. dissimulatum, as good reasons 
appear for viewing it as one of a chain of close species as for 
surmising that it may be a cross. 
In addition to material from Maine, Nantucket, Marthas 
Vineyard, and Long Island, collected by myself, the following 
specimens may be cited: 
In herb. N. Y. Botanical Garden: — 
RHODE IsLaAnD: Kingston, Aug. 21, 1906, E. S. Reynolds. 
