HvPERicuM. HYPERICACE^. 89 



7. Hypericum Canadense, Linn. Canadian St. John's Wort. 



Stem quadrangular, with erect branches ; leaves Hnear or Hnear-lanceolate, usually narrowed 

 at the base, 3-nerved, pellucid-punctate, and with black dots underneath ; sepals lanceolate, 

 very acute, longer than the petals and the mature acute conical capsule ; stamens 5 - 10. — 

 Willd. sp. 3. p. 1455 ; Michx. fl. 2. p. 79 ; Pursh, ft. 2. p. 378 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 24 ; DC. 

 prodr. 1. p. 550 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 80 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 1 10 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. 

 p. 324; Torr. 4- Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 165. Brathys Canadensis, Spach, I. c. 



Stems 6-15 inches high, slender, moderately branched above. Leaves about an inch 

 long and 2 lines wide, sometimes lanceolate and rather broad at the base. Sepals unequal. 

 Petals oblong, orange-yellow. Styles somewhat spreading : stigmas capitate. Capsule al- 

 most always longer than the calyx, and usually, when mature, twice as long, mostly purplish 

 brown. Seeds cylindrical-oblong, marked with a number of elevated lines and faint transverse 

 striae, dull yellow. 



Wet places, particularly in sandy soils. The broad-leaved form has been considered a 

 distinct species by some of our botanists, but it passes gradually into the common kind. The 

 length and shape of the capsule are variable : sometimes, even when nearly ripe, it is scarcely 

 as long as the calyx. Flowers from June to August. 



 stems rather rigid, dichoUmumsly or irregularly much branched from near the base : flowers distinct, and somewhat 

 racemose on the branches : leaves subulate, oppressed. (Sarothra, Linn.) 



8. Hypericum Sarothra, Michx. Ground Pine. Nitweed. Pine-weed. 



Stem and branches filiform, quadrangular; leaves very minute, subulate, appressed; flowers 

 sessile ; stamens 5 - 10 ; capsule conical, very acute, twice the length of the linear-lanceolate 

 sepals. — Michx. fl. 2. p. 79; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 76; Torr. comp end. p. 221 ; Darlingt, fl. Cest. 

 p. 324:. H. nudicaule, Walt. fl. Car. p. 190. Sarothra gentianoides, Linn.; Willd. sp. 3. 

 p. 1515 ; Ell. sk. l.p. 371 ; Grev. <^ Hook, in hot. misc* 3. p. 236. S. gentianoides, Nutt. 

 gen. 1. p. 204 ; Bart. fl. Am. Sept. 3. t. 92. /. 1. 



Stem usually from 4 to 8 inches high and fastigiately branched, often tortuous at the base. 

 Leaves scarcely more than a line long, with scattered opake dots, closely appressed to the 

 stem, so that the plant appears almost leafless. Flowers about 2 lines in diameter, orange- 

 yellow. Petals oblong-linear, longer than the calyx. Styles somewhat spreading : stigmas 

 capitate. Capsule tapering to a long point, dark purple. Seeds oblong, yellowish. 



Sandy fields and road-sides ; common. June - August. — It is a little remarkable that this 

 plant, which is a Hypericum in all respects, should have been excluded from the genus, and 

 even from the order, by many distinguished botanists. There is considerable difference of 

 opinion as to whether the embryo is surrounded with albumen or not. The endopleura is lined 

 with a fleshy stratum in all the species of the genus ; but in the section Brathys, at least, it 

 strongly resembles albumen, constituting the chief bulk of the seed, and abounding in oil. 



[Flora.] 12 



