632 HYMENANTHERA HYPERICUM 



HYMENANTHERA CRASSIFOLIA, Hooker fiL VIOLACE^E. 



(Gardeners' Chronicle, 1875, i-i fig- 4 2 



A low, semi-evergreen shrub of dense, rounded habit, 3 to 6 ft. high, 

 twice as much in diameter in this country, with stiff, flat-growing branches, 

 covered when young with a short pubescence. Leaves obovate, entire, 

 rounded or slightly notched at the apex, J to i in. long ; smooth, firm, and 

 thick in texture, densely crowded and alternate on the branches. Flowers 

 almost stalkless, very small (-J- in. wide), borne in leaf-axils, with five 

 brownish, reflexed petals of no beauty, and five stamens. Berry almost 

 globular, about J in. diameter, white. 



Native of New Zealand; first seen in this country about 1875. It 

 is a shrub of great botanical interest in being related to the violet and 

 pansy, and although with not the least beauty of flower, is very attractive 

 in autumn when laden with its abundant pure white berries. It is quite 

 hardy at Kew. One of the finest specimens in the British Isles is in the 

 Glasnevin Botanic Garden, 6 ft. high and 12 to 15 ft. diameter. It 

 retains some of its leaves through the winter, but can scarcely be called 

 evergreen. Propagated by cuttings or by seeds. 



H. CHATHAMICA, T. Kirk, also from New Zealand, is genuinely ever- 

 green, and has lanceolate leaves 3 to 4 ins. long, toothed and prominently 

 veined. Hardy only in the milder parts of Ireland, Cornwall, etc. 



HYPERICUM. HYPERICACE^:. 



A large and well-marked genus, composed mainly of herbaceous plants, 

 but comprising also some twenty or more shrubby and sub-shrubby ones, 

 hardy in this country, and of considerable beauty. The leading character- 

 istics of these species are the five sepals and petals, and the three to 

 five styles of the flower; the capsular fruit usually more or less cone- 

 shaped ; and the invariably opposite or whorled leaves, often dotted with 

 pellucid glands. They rarely grow more than 4 or 5 ft. high in this country, 

 and most of them retain more or less foliage in mild winters ; in severe ones 

 they are deciduous. The stems of some of the species here described 

 are only half woody, and naturally die back some distance every winter. 

 Although the flowers are always yellow in these shrubby species, there 

 is considerable variety among them either in size or depth of shade. 

 The plants themselves vary much in foliage and general aspect. 



In gardens, perhaps the chief value of the Hypericums is in their 

 habit of flowering during late summer and autumn, when comparatively 

 few shrubs remain in bloom. Planted in groups, as the hardier species 

 should always be, they also give during a large part of the year healthy 

 masses of deep green or blue-green foliage. They are of the simplest 

 culture, and all of them like a well-drained loamy soil and abundant 

 moisture. -Many of them produce seeds, and none, so far as I am 

 aware, will not increase easily by cuttings. These should be taken off 



