GENUS I. 

 HYPERICUM {Linu.) The St. John's Herb. 



Generic Characteb. — Sepals and petals 5. Stamens 

 very numerous, all free, or connetted into bundles. Ovary 1 



or 3-5 celled. Capsule seitticidal. Seeds not winged, with a 

 straight embryo. — Handbook of Sew Zealand Flora, p. 28. 



Description, etc.— Au extensive genus of herbaceous, or shrubby plants givmg the 

 name to the order. The best known example is H. cahjcinum, a somcAvhat shrubby 

 European plant one to two feet high, with large almost . evergreen leaves, curiously 

 sprinkled with pellucid dots. The flowers are very large, terminal and solitary. II. 

 (iiidroscemum, (by some authors made a distinct genus on accoimt of its berry like cap- 

 sules) is, in the "West of England, a common hedge, or woodland plant, growing to the 

 height of one and a-half feet. The New Zealand species are : H. gbamixeum, an erect 

 herb with subcordate leaves ; and H. japonicum, a much smaller ])lant, procumbent, 

 Avith oblong or obovate leaves. 



1. HYPERICUM GRAMINEUM {Forst.) The Grass or Field Hypericum. 



Specific Characiek.— An erect or ascending, rather 

 wiry, quite glabrous, perennial-rooted herb, branching from 

 the root, w ith l-angled branches 6-12 inches high, slender and 

 sparingly leafy. Leaves small, i-1 in. long, sessile, cordate, 

 oblong, ol)tuse, quite entire, black dotted, margins usually 

 revolute. Flowers subsolitarv or in 3-cliotomous terminal 



cymes, i-;^ in. across, on rather stout, erect, rigid peduncles. 

 Sepals oblong or ovate, obtuse or acute, black dotted, quite 

 entire. Petals longer than the calyx, golden-yellow, curling 

 inwards as they wither, f'tamens nearly free. Capsule ovoid, 

 acute, longer or shorter than the sepals. — Handlook of New 

 Zealand Flora, p. 29. 



Description, etc. — This .species is common in grassy places throughout New Zealand, 

 and is also frequent in temperate Australia, New Caledonia, aiid the hilly country of 

 India. The leaves of some of the British species were formerly applied to fresh wounds, 

 which they were supposed to heal ; hence the plant was called in French Toutesaine — 

 corrupted into Tutsan, its common English name. The i)ellucid dots, and black glands 

 in all the species contain an essential oil. 



2. HYPERICUM JAPONICUM {Thiinb.) The Japan Hypericum. 



Specific Chabacter. — A much smaller plant than 

 H. !iramineum, with prostrate branches, broader, flat leaves, 

 smaller, often sessile Howers, having broader, more obtuse 



sepals, and shorter, rounder capsules. — Handlook of Neto 

 Zealand Flora, p. 29. 



Description, etc. — Abundant in most gi'assy places throughout New Zealand. It 

 is also found in many parts of temperate and sub-tropical Asia. .1 very similar and 

 perhaps identical plant inhabits the West coasts of temperate North and South America. 

 Intermediate forms, says Dr. Hooker, are found in New Zealand, Australia, and India, 

 in all of which countries both occur ; and he suspects that they are the extreme forms 

 of one variable sj^ecies. 



