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) ; pods ovate-conical, pointed, the 

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

 June - Aug. 



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

 somewliat 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 

 ovate; pods depressed-globular or ovoid-conical; seeds large, oblong, very 

 rough-pitted. (H. sphaerocarpon, Michx.) — llocky river-banks, 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 ; leaves 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 Fenn. to Minn., and northward. July, Aug. — Fetals light 

 yellow, 3" long. 



10. H. virg^tum. Lam. Stem slender, strict, simple, sharply 4-angled, 

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

 acute (|- - F long), closely sessile by 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. (H. angu- 

 losum, 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 ivith black dots ; perennials. 



H. PERFORA.TUM, L, (CoMMOx St. Joiix's-woRT.) Stem much branched 

 and corymbed, 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 lanceolate acute sepals ; 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. maeulatum, 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; floicers croicded (small) ; petals 

 pale yelloio, much longer than the oblong sepals, styles mostly not longer than 

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



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

 marked Avith 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. Stamens 5-12, distinct or in 3 clusters ; pod l-celled, with 3 strictly pari- 

 etal placentce ; styles short, distinct, with capitate stigmas ; petals oblong or 

 linear; sepals narrow, erect; slender annuals, with 4-angular 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; 



