636 HYPERICUM 



H. ELATUM, Alton. 

 (H. grandifolium, Choisy ; H. multiflorum. Hart.} 



A sub-evergreen shrub, up to 5 ft. high, with slightly angled, branching 

 stems. Leaves aromatic when crushed, deep green, i^ to 3 ins. long, ovate, 

 blunt or rounded at the tip. Flowers borne in abundant cymes at the ends of 

 the shoots and in the axils of the terminal leaves, one to three flowers in each 

 final subdivision of the inflorescence ; each flower yellow, I in. across, with 

 three long styles ; sepals ovate, reflexed in fruit. Fruit dark brown, at first 

 rather pulpy like that of H. Androsaemum, but longer and more tapered at 

 the top. 



Native of the Canary Islands, but now naturalised in some of the milder 

 parts of the British Isles, e.g., the counties of Cornwall, Argyll, Perth, and 

 Down. It is sometimes confounded with H. Androsaemum, but is amply 

 distinguished by the aromatic, smaller foliage, the tapering fruit, and especially 

 the much longer styles. (See also H. hrrcinum.) 



H. EMPETRIFOLIUM, Willdenow. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 6764.) 



A dwarf evergreen shrub, up to 12 or 15 ins. high, with slender, erect, 

 angled branches. Leaves produced occasionally in pairs, but usually three at 

 each joint ; \ to \ in. long, linear, with the margins curled under ; stalkless. 

 Flowers in an erect panicle, producing three cymes in each tier ; each flower 

 | to | in. across, pale golden yellow ; sepals small, oblong, with black glands 

 on the margin. Fruit a three-celled capsule J in. long, with the spreading 

 sepals attached at the base. 



Native of Greece and the islands of the Grecian Archipelago ; introduced 

 to the Hammersmith nursery of Messrs Lee in 1788. It is a rather tender 

 plant, and will survive only our mildest winters without protection. But for 

 the warmer counties few more charming dwarf shrubs could be found. Even 

 in cooler districts it is well worth the little protection it requires. Flowers 

 from late July to September. Sometimes confounded with this species is 



H. CORIS, Linnciis (Bot. Mag., t. 6563). This is a semi-shrubby species, 

 native of the south of France, Italy, and the Tyrol, but never reaching so far 

 eastward as H. empetrifolium. It has erect stems, with linear leaves I in. 

 long, produced in whorls of four to six. Panicle terminal, with three to five 

 flowers at the end of each of its whorled branches ; each flower f in. across, 

 golden yellow. It is known to have been cultivated in England in 1640. 

 From H. empetrifolium it differs in the more numerous leaves at each whorl ; 

 its sepals being erect instead of spreading at the fruiting stage ; and in its less 

 woody character. It is also tender. 



H. GALIOIDES, Lamarck. 



(Garden and Forest, 1897, fig. 55.) 



An evergreen bush, 2 to 3 ft. high, of broad, compact habit, and with round 

 (not angled) steins, much branched towards the top. Leaves from f to 2 ins. 

 long, \ in. or less wide ; dark green dotted with pellucid glands ; margins 

 recurved. Flowers \ to in. across, yellow, borne in cymes both terminal and 

 axillary on the many branchlets, and thus transforming the end of each branch 

 into a large panicle of flowers 6 to 10 ins. long and 3 to 4 ins. wide ; sepals 

 and petals narrow. Styles and cells of seed-vessel three ; calyx linear, as long 

 as the fruit. 



