94 HYPERICACE^. (ST. JOHN's-WORT FAMILY.) 



veinless ; cyme leafy, few-flowered ; sepals oblong or ovate-lanceolate, about the 

 length of the very oblique petals (5-6" long); poo's ovate-conical, pointed, the 

 walls very thick and hard. Dry hills and rocks, barrens of Ky. and Teun. 

 June- Aug. 



8. H. cistif61ium, Lam. ! Stems mostly simple, herbaceous, with a 

 somewhat woody base, angled with 4 very narrow salient lines (1 -2 high) ; 

 leaves narrowly oblong to nearly linear (1 -3' long), sessile with a somewhat 

 clasping base ; the cyme naked, compound, usually many-flowered ; sepals 

 OL-ate ; pods depressed-globular or ovoid-conical; seeds large, oblong, verv 

 rough-pitted. (H. sphserocarpon, J/tV/u'.) Rocky river-bauks, S. W. Ohio, 

 to Iowa and southward. July -Sept. Flowers small. 



9. H. ellipticum, Hook. Stem simple, herbaceous (10-20' high), ob- 

 scurely 4-angled ; leurcs spreading, elliptical-oblong, obtuse, usually narrower 

 toward the subclasping base, thin; cyme nearly naked, rather few-flowered; 

 sepals oblong ; pods ovoid, very obtuse ; seeds minutely striate. Wet places, 

 New Eng. and I'eun. to Minn., and northward. July, Aug. Petals light 

 yellow, 3" long. 



10. H. virgatum, Lam. Stem slender, strict, simple, sharply 4-angled, 

 herbaceous (1 -2 high) ; leaves ascending, opaque, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, 

 acute (- 1' long), closely sessile l>y a broad base ; cyme compound, naked, the 

 scattered flowers racemose on its ascending branches ; sepals herbaceous, erect, 

 enclosing the ovoid pod ; styles 3, separate, with capitate stigmas. ( II. angu- 

 losuin, Michx.) Wet pine barrens of N. J. and southward ; Ky. July - Sept. 



Petals copper-yellow, 4 - 5" long. 



3. Stamens very many, in 3 or 5 clusters ; styles 3, separate and usually diverg- 

 ing ; pod 3-celled ; calyx erect ; petals and anthers u-ith black dots ; perennials. 



H. i-KKFOK.VruM, L. (COMMON ST. JOIIX'S-WORT.) Stem much branched 

 and corymhed, somewhat 2-edged (producing runners from the base) ; leaves 

 elliptical-oblong or linear-oblong, with pellucid dots; petals (deep yellow) 

 twice the length of the /(im-fo/ali- untie ac/xtix ; flowers numerous, in open 

 leafy cymes. Fields, etc. June-Sept. Too well known as a pernicious 

 weed, which it is difficult to extirpate. Juice very acrid. (Nat. from Eu.) 



11. H. maculatum, Walt. Conspicuously marked with both black and 

 pellucid dots; stem terete, sparingly branched; leaves oblong or lance-ovate, 

 the base either obtuse or somewhat clasping; flowers crowded (small) ; petals 

 pale yellow, much longer than the oblu/i'/ v /mis, styles mostly not longer than 

 the pod. (H. corymbosum, Muhl.) Damp places; common. July -Sept. 



Leaves larger and flowers much smaller than iu the last ; petals 2-3" long, 

 marked with black lines as well as dots. The ordinary northern form differs 

 from the typical southern one in the shorter style and the more oblong less 

 clasping leaves. 



4. Sta?nens 5-12, distinct or in 3 clusters; pod l-celled, with 3 strictly pari- 

 etal placenta;; styles short, ditt/ni-t, with rapilute stii/mas; petals oblong or 

 linear; sepals narrow, erect; slender annuals, with 4-anyular branches; 

 flowering all summer. 



* Stem simple or loosely branched ; leaves linear to ovate, spreading. 



12. H. mutilum, L. Stem flaccid, widely branching (6-20' high); 

 leaves ovate to narrowly oblong, obtuse, partly clasping, 5-nerved ; cymes leafy ; 



