HYPERICUM 639 



more than one of each cluster open simultaneously ; each flower 2 to i\ ins. 

 across, with broad, overlapping, golden yellow petals. Stamens in five bundles. 



This is one of the most attractive of the Hypericums, whose only fault is that 

 it is frequently killed back in winter, and when planted in a group, leaves the 

 ground bare until the young growths push again, which is not until May. It 

 is hardier than H. patulum, although it has inherited the cymose inflorescence 

 of that species, and thus a great flower beauty. A bed at Kevv stood unchanged 

 for twenty years, only protected by dry leaves during hard frost. It flowers 

 from July up to October. 



Var. TRICOLOR. Leaves edged with rose-colour and white. This appeared 

 as a sport on typical H. Moserianum in 1891, but is too delicate to be of much 

 value in the open air except in favoured spots. 



H. PATULUM, Thunberg. 

 (Bot Mag., t. 5693.) 



A dwarf shrub in this country, but said to grow as much as 6 ft. high in 

 Japan and the Himalaya. Leaves I to 2^ ins. long, ovate, deep green above, 

 glaucous beneath. Flowers 2 ins. across, borne in a cyme at the end of the 

 shoot ; petals bright golden yellow, overlapping, roundish ; sepals broadly 

 ovate, ^ in. long. Stamens in five bundles. 



Introduced to Kew from Japan by Oldham in 1862 ; a native also of China 

 and the Himalaya. The type is not absolutely hardy, and almost always has 

 its stems cut back to ground-level during the winter. These spring up again 

 the following season from i to 2 ft. high, and flower from July to October. 

 After a few years the shoots are apt to become more and more weakly and it 

 becomes necessary to renew the stock from cuttings. The only species with 

 which it can be confounded are : H. Hookerianum, from which it differs in the 

 branchlets being two-edged, especially just beneath the flowers ; H. lysima- 

 chioides, which has narrow, linear-lanceolate sepals ; and H. uralum, with 

 flowers half the size. 



Var. HENRYI. A much more robust plant than the type, surviving hard 

 winters uninjured. Leaves larger, thicker in texture ; inflorescence larger, 

 and stems stouter. This fine variety, superior to the type in every way, and 

 one of the best of Hypericums, was introduced to Kew from China in 1898, by 

 Prof. Henry. In general appearance it resembles H. Hookerianum, but has 

 the two-edged branchlets of patulum. 



H. PROLIFICUM, Linnceus. 



(Garden and Forest, 1890, fig. 66.) 



A stout, erect-growing evergreen bush, 3 to 5 ft. high, the growths of the 

 year but little branched, two-edged especially towards the top. Leaves dark, 

 shining green, narrow-oblong, tapering to a short stalk ; \\ to 2^ ins. long, 

 J to \ in. wide, dotted with numerous transparent glands. Flowersln terminal 

 clusters and in the leaf-axils near the end of the shoot ; each flower about I in. 

 across, bright yellow. Fruits three-celled. 



Native of the eastern and Central United States ; introduced about the 

 middle of the eighteenth century. Under cultivation it is the healthiest and 

 most vigorous of the American species, although not so handsome in flower as 

 H. aureum. It bears enormous crops of fruit. Allied to H. densiflorum, it 

 differs in its larger leaves and flowers ; and from H. Kalmianum and 

 H. lobocarpum (which have five-celled fruits) its three-celled ones distinguish 

 it. Commencing to flower in July, it continues for six or eight weeks. (See 

 densiflorum.} 



