AscYEUM. HYPERICACE^. 85 



erect pedicels ; exterior sepals cordate-orbicular , inner ones lanceolate, one-third shorter than 

 the others ; styles 3 (rarely 4) ; capsule ovate, rather acute. — Michx.fl. 2. p. 77 ; DC. prodr. 

 l.p. 155 ; Torr. compend.p. 219 ; Torr. ^ Gr.fl. 1. p. 157. A. hypericoides, Linn, (part- 

 ly) ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 22. 



Stem 12-18 inches high, usually simple except at the summit, rigid, woody towards the 

 base. Leaves an inch or rather more in length and 4-5 lines wide, opake and rather thick. 

 Flowers usually 3 together, nearly an inch in diameter when expanded : pedicels 4-6 hues 

 long. Inner sepals somewhat petaloid, about half as long as the corolla. Petals ovate, twice 

 as long as the calyx. Stamens very numerous. Styles somewhat spreading. Capsule ob- 

 tusely triangular : placentae somewhat prominent. Seeds ovate, longitudinally marked with 

 line and transverse lines. 



Sandy swamps, Suffolk county. Long Island. August - September. 



2. HYPERICUM. Linn. ; Choisy, I. c. ; Endl. gen. 5464. ST. JOHN'S WORT. 



[An ancient name of unknown meaning and derivation.] 



Sepals 5, more or less connected at the base, usually nearly equal. Petals 5, oblique and 

 often inequilateral. Stamens very numerous or sometimes few, united at the base into 

 3-5 parcels, or sometimes distinct. Styles 3-5, distinct or more or less united, persistent. 

 Capsule 1 -celled with 3-5 parietal placentas, or 3 - 5-celled by the placentae meeting in 

 the axis. — Herbaceous or shrubby plants. Flowers yellow, solitary or cymose at the 

 summit of the stem and branches. 



§ 1. Stamens very numerous, polyadelphous ; capsule 5- {sometimes 6 - 7-) celled ; the dilated placentas 

 retrojlexed into the middle of the cells. — Perennial herbs : leaves ample ; flowers very large. 



1. Hypericum pyramidatum. Ait. (Plate Xll.) Giant St. John's Wort. 



Stem quadrangular, and usually branching above ; leaves oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acute, 

 partly clasping, membranaceous ; sepals ovate or oblong, acute, scarcely one-third the length 

 of the petals ; styles about as long as the stamens, united below, at length distinct, recurved 

 at the summit ; stigmas capitate. — Ait. Kew. {ed. 1 .) 3. p. 103; Willd. sp. 3. p. 1444 ; Vent. 

 Malmais. (. 118 ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 545 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 158. H. amplexi- 

 caule, Lam. diet. 4. p. 141. H. macrocarpon, Michx. fl. 2. p. 82. H. ascyroides, Willd. 

 I. c. ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 374 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 279 ; DC. I. c. ; Hook. fl. Bar. -Am. l.p. 109. 

 Roscyna Americana, Spach, conspect. Hyper, in ann, sci. nat. 1836. 



Stem 2-4 feet high, nearly terete below ; branches erect, the smaller ones and the pedun- 

 cles almost ancipital. Leaves 2-4 inches long, and 1^ inch wide, sprinkled with minute 

 oblong pellucid dots. Flowers nearly two inches in diameter, few or solitary at the ends of 

 the branches ; those at the summit of the stem forming a loose leafy panicle. Peduncles of 



