84 HYPERICACE^E. (ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY.) 



2. HYPERICUM, L. ST. JOHN'S-WORT. 



Sepals 5, somewhat equal. Petals 5, oblique, convolute in the bud. Sta- 

 mens commonly united or clustered in 3 - 5 parcels : no interposed glands. Pod 

 1 -celled or 3- 5-celled. Seeds usually cylindrical. Herbs or shrubs, with cy- 

 mose yellow flowers. (An ancient Greek name, of obscure meaning.) 

 1 . Stamens very numerous, 5-adelphous : pod 5 - 7 -celled, with the placentae turned 

 far back into the cells : perennial : Jlowers very large : styles united. 



1. H. pyramidatum, Ait. (GREAT ST. JOHN'S-WORT.) Branches 

 2-4-angled; leaves ovate-oblong, partly clasping; petals narrowly obovate, 

 not deciduous until after they wither ; stigmas capitate. Banks of rivers : 

 rare. New England and Penn. to Wisconsin and Illinois. July. Plant 3- 

 5 high. Leaves 2' -3' long. Petals 1' long. Pod f long, conical. 



2. Stamens very numerous, obscurely if at all clustered : styles 3 (No. 2 excepted), 



more or less united into one and the sepals foliaceous, except in No. 9. 



* Bushy shrubs, 1 - 6 high, leafy to the top : pod 3 - 5-celled. 



2. H. Kalmiamim, L. (KALM'S ST. JOHN'S-WORT.) Branches 4- 

 angled : branchlets 2-edged; leaves crowded, glaucous, oblanceolate (l'-2' 

 long); flowers few in a cluster (!' wide); pods ovate, 5-celled. Wet rocks, 

 Niagara Falls and Northern lakes. Aug. 



3. H. prolificum, L. (SHRUBBY ST. JOHN'S-WORT.) Branchlets 2- 

 edged ; leaves lanceolate-oblong, mostly obtuse, narrowed at the base ; flowers 

 numerous, in single or compound clusters ; pods oblong, 3-ce/led. New Jersey 

 to Michigan, Illinois, and southward. July - Sept. Varies greatly in size, &c. 



Var. densifldrum. Exceedingly branched above, 1 - 6 high, the 

 branches slender and crowded with smaller leaves; flowers smaller (^'-fin 

 diameter) and more numerous, in crowded compound cymes. (H. densiflorum, 

 & H. galioides, Pursh.) Pine barrens of New Jersey to glades of Kentucky, 

 and southward. 



* # Perennial herbs or in No. 5 and 6 a little woody at the base : pod one-celled 

 with 3 parietal placenta, or incompletely 3 - 4-celled. 



4. H. adpr^ssum, Barton. Stem simple, herbaceous, from a slightly 

 woody creeping base (1 - 2 high), obscurely 4-angled below and 2-edged above ; 

 leaves ascending, lanceolate or linear-oblong, often acute, thin ; cyme leafy at the 

 base, few-flowered ; sepals linear-lanceolate ; pods ovoid-oblong, partly 3 - 4-celled. 

 Moist places, Rhode Island (Olney), New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and southwest- 

 ward. July - Aug. Leaves l' long. Petals bright yellow, 3" - 5" long. 



5. H. dolabriforme, Vent. Stems branched from the decumbent base, 

 woody below (6' -20' high), terete; leaves linear-lanceolate, widely spreading, 

 veinless ; cyme leafy, few-flowered ; sepals oblong or ovate-lanceolate, about the 

 length of the very oblique petals (5" -6" long); pods ovate-conical, pointed, 

 strictly l-celled, the walls very thick and hard. (H. procumbens, Michx.) Dry 

 hills and rocks, barrens of Kentucky and westward. June - Aug. 



6. H. nudifldrum, Michx. Stems branched, woody at the base, sharply 

 4-angled or almost winged above (2 -4 high) ; leaves oblong or oval-lanceolate, 

 obtuse, obscurely veined, pale (2' -2^' long); cyme compound, many-flowered, 



