790 



HYPERICUM 



3-5 clusters, sometimes with interposed hypogynous 

 glands: ovary free, 1-celled, with a central placenta or 

 incompletely or completely 3-5-celled, sometimes longi- 

 tudinally furrowed: fr. a berry or capsule, with numer- 

 ous seeds borne upon the placenta or introflexed mar- 

 gins of the carpels : styles 3-5, free or united, persistent. 

 The Hypericums grow 6 in. to 5 ft. high, of erect to 

 prostrate habit, most of them tender or of uncertain 

 hardiness, requiring some winter protection. Many 

 kinds from the southern United States and southern 

 Europe, otherwise good, are unreliable from lack of 

 hardiness. Several N. American species not yet in cul- 

 tivation are ornamental and hardy. The few useful 

 species furnish a brilliant color, blooming when most 

 shrubs do not. All are of simple culture, succeeding m 

 almost any garden soil, but generally preferring a light, 

 warm land ; hence useful in sandy soils, flowering later 

 and longer if partly shaded. They are prop, by seeds, 

 suckers, cuttings and strong pieces of creeping-rooted 

 kinds. The twigs are terete, 2-angled or 4-angled. The 

 smaller species are useful as rock-plants, the larger as 

 border plants, in the front of shrubberies or in unmixed 

 masses. Their common name, St. John's-Wort, comes 

 from the fact that the common people of some European 

 nations used to gather the flowers of H. perforatum to 

 decorate their dwellings on St. John's Day. The Hy- 

 pericums are mostly short-lived, and need renewal every 

 6-7 years. 



INDEX. 



A. Flowers yellow. 



B. Styles 5. 

 C. Plant herbaceous. 



1. Ascyron, Linn. (H. pyramidatum, Dryand.). Up- 

 right perennial, 2-6 ft. high, with tetragonal stems : Ivs. 

 clasping, ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate 

 from the base, 2-5 in. long : cymes terminal, 3-12-fld., 

 appearing in July: fls. 1-2 in. in diam.; sepals small, 

 ovate-lanceolate ; petals thin, narrowly obovate or ob- 

 lanceolate, curiously shaped and twisted, persistent un- 

 til withered; stamens in 5 clusters; styles somewhat 

 spreading; stigmas capitate: capsule ovoid, % in. long. 

 A somewhat coarse and ungainly plant living on river 

 banks, native to both North America and N. Asia. B.B. 

 2 :429. Toward fall apt to be unsightly through the lower 

 Ivs. dying and remaining. 



cc. Plant shrubby or suffruticose. 

 D. Stems terete. 



2. Hookerianum, Wight & Arn. (H. oblong ifblium, 

 Hook., not Choisy. H. triflorum, Bluine). A suffruti- 

 cose species, 2% ft. high, thin growing: Ivs. among the 

 largest of the genus, 1-4 in. long, evergreen, ovate or 

 oblong, sessile, dark blue-green above, pale and glaucous 

 below, minutely pellucid punctate : corymbs several- 

 fid., of large golden yellow fls. in profusion, 2-3 in. in 

 diam.; sepals large, obovate ; petals very large, firm, 

 sub-rotund ; stamens in 5 clusters; styles recurved, 

 longer than the stamens : ovary broad-ovate, longitudi- 

 nally furrowed. Considered to be one of the best spe- 

 cies because of its large fls. and hardiness. August. 

 From the higher altitudes of the Himalayas. B.M.4949. 

 Gn. 54, p. 490. Easily prop, by cuttings. 



3. patulum, Thunb. (H. Uralum, Don.- H. Nepalense, 

 Hort.). An evergreen spreading under-shrub, l%-2 ft. 

 high, with many smooth, purplish arching branches: 

 Ivs. ovate-lanceolate, acute, without dots: fls. many, 

 solitary or in cymes, large, 2 in. in diam., of good sub- 

 stance; sepals suborbicular; styles recurved: capsule 

 ovate, more or less longitudinally furrowed. Japan, 

 China and the Himalayas. Not very hardy, but one of the 



HYPERICUM 



best where it succeeds. Gn. 54, p. 491. B.M. 2375, 5693. 

 R.H. 1875:171. Not so showy as some American spe- 

 cies, but graceful and delicate, and one of the best for 

 rock-gardens. Earliest to bloom. 



4. Moserianum, Andre. GOLD FLOWER. Hybrid raised 

 by Moser, of France, from H. patulum and H. calyci- 

 num. generally resembling the latter but lacking its 

 coarseness, and surpassing both parents in good quali- 

 ties. A glabrous subshrub 2 ft. high, erect, with the 

 tips of the branches pendulous: Ivs. similar to those of 

 H. calycinum, ovate-obtuse-mucronulate, opaque, 2 in. 

 long, dark green above, pale below: inflorescence with 

 1-3 fls. per stalk, which are golden yellow, 2 in. in diam., 

 blooming for some time: calyx of foliaceous oblong se- 

 pals; corolla of broad rounded petals, their color height- 

 ened by the many tufted yellow stamens with reddish 

 anthers: capsule top-shaped. July, Aug. R.H. 1889, p. 

 464. Gn. 54:1201. R.B. 16:97. G.C. III. 10:333.-Not 

 hardy in N. England, but successful farther south. Not 

 good individually, but good in masses, better adapted to 

 the herbaceous border than the shrubbery. May be 

 used as a pot-plant. Var. tricolor. Variegated form of 

 white and green edged with red. Habit like H. patulum, 

 but more horizontal, the Ivs. smaller and narrower: fls. 

 one-fourth the size of those of H. Moserianum but 

 similar. Less hardy. 



DD. Stems angled. 



5. calycinum, Linn. ROSE OF SHARON. AARON'S 

 BEARD. A subshrub, 1 ft. or less high, with many pro- 

 cumbent or ascending stems occurring in thick tufts: 

 Ivs. ovate, evergreen, leathery, dark green, glaucous 

 below, 2-4 in. long, filled with pellucid dots: tis. large, 

 solitary, or 2-3 together, 3 in. in diameter; sepals large, 

 obovate, spreading; stamens long and showy, in 5 clus- 

 ters, with red anthers; styles shorter than the stamens, 

 divergent: capsule ovate, 4 in. long. July-Sept, B.M. 146. 

 A rapidly spreading plant, creeping by woody root- 

 stalks completely covering the soil. Used as a ground 

 cover abroad. Not very hardy in New England, the 

 annual killing -back preventing its covering wide 

 stretches, but not destroying its bloom each year, nor 

 its usefulness in the herbaceous border, or in the margin 

 of a shrubbery. May be protected, and its dark, persis- 

 tent foliage preserved. Thrives in sun and moderate 

 shade. From Greece and Asia Minor. Prop, by root and 

 ripe wood cuttings. 



6. Kalmianum, Linn. A shrub, 2-3 ft. high, with 

 rather contorted stems : Ivs. oblong-linear, or oblanceo- 

 late, l-2>2 in. long, bluish, more or less glaucous below, 

 crowded: fls. small, %-l in. in diameter, in 3- several- 

 flowered cymes; sepals foliaceous oblong;' stamens dis- 

 tinct; styles united below to form a beak: capsule ovoid, 

 longitudinally furrowed. G.F. 3:113. Mn. 6:141. A rare 

 species, confined to the rocks and sands of Niagara and 

 the northern lakes, enduring considerable dryness. 

 Easily adapted to the garden, succeeding in the shade. 

 Not so showy in fl. as some other species, but good be- 

 cause of its bright, narrow Ivs. and hardiness. 



7. lobocarpum, Gattinger. Upright, hardy shrub, \Y Z 

 ft. high, in the South 5-7 ft. : Ivs. oblong-lanceolate or 

 linear-lanceolate, obtuse or barely acute, l%-2 in. long: 

 fls. profuse, small, in many-flowered naked cymes; 

 sepals linear-lanceolate ; stamens numerous ; styles 

 connivent: capsule oblong, 5-angled, furrowed. Last of 

 August. Tenn., where it frequents marshes. G.F. 10:453. 

 Straggling plant of inferior quality. 



BB. Styles S. 

 C. Fruit a berry: Ivs. ovate. 



8. Androsaemum, Linn. (Androscemum officindle, 

 All . ) . SWEET AMBER. COMMON TUTSAN. A dense under- 

 shrub with erect, quadrangular stems: Ivs. ovate, 4 in. 

 long, subcordate, minutely dotted, dark green, whitish 

 below: fls. solitary or in cymes of 3-9, large, light yel- 

 low; sepals ovate ; stamens in 5 clusters, longer than 

 the corolla ; ovary subglobular or oval, incompletely 

 3-celled ; styles divergent, persistent : fr. berry-like, 

 blackish violet, the size of a pea. June-Sept. Lives in 

 shady, wet places, W. Europe. -Not yet proved hardy 

 at the North. Fls. not particularly attractive, but good 

 in fruit and foliage. All parts very aromatic. 



