THE EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY 113 



handful to each plant after close cutting in hot dry weather 

 will kill it and may be practicable where the pest is not abundant 

 and the land can not be brought under cultivation. Prevent 

 it from going to seed. St. John's-wort is easily suppressed on 

 land that ' can be cultivated under a systematic rotation of 

 crops. Where it is established, it would be well not to seed 

 to grass until it is suppressed. 



ALLIED SPECIES: Great St. John's-wort (Hypericum As- 

 cyron L.) is a common, coarse-growing weed in low rich soils 

 and about swamps in Quebec and Ontario, occasionally occur- 

 ring in old meadows and pastures along river flats. 



Spotted or Corymbed St. John's-wort (Hypericum punctatum 

 Lam.), about 2 feet in height, is abundant in the Bruce 

 peninsula of Lake Huron, and quite general throughout 

 Ontario, Quebec and eastward to Nova Scotia. Like the other 

 named species, it frequently occurs in low meadows, much to 

 the detriment of the hay. 



Pale St. John's-wort (Hypericum ellipticum Hook.), with its 

 bright yellow flowers, is common in Quebec, Northern Ontario, 

 and westward to Lake Winnipeg. 



THE EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY 



(Onagraceae) . 



A few weeds belong to this family and also many showy flower- 

 ing plants, such as the fuchsias, clarkias and evening-primroses. 

 A few kinds of Willow-herbs (Epilobium), also known as Fire- 

 weeds, are noticeable as weeds. The kinds most common 

 in cultivated lands are Great Willow-herb or Fireweed (Epilobium 

 angustifolium L.) and Sticky Fireweed (Epilobium adenocaulon 

 Haussk.). These are rather persistent on wet land, the latter 

 from its running perennial rootstocks and the former chiefly 

 from the great number of downy seeds it produces. Of the 

 Evening Primroses, two species require mention, White 

 Evening Primrose and Common Evening Primrose. 



