574 HYPERICACEAE (ST. JOHN'S-WOKT FAMILY) 



4. BRATHYDIUM (Spach) Endl. Similar to 3 ; pod l-celled, with 3 



parietal placentae. 



11. H. dolabrif6rme Vent. Stems branched from the decumbent base, woody 

 below, 1.5-5 dm. high, terete ; leaves linear-lanceolate, widely spreading, vein- 

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

 length of the very oblique petals (1-1.2 cm. long) ; pods ovoid-conical, the walls 

 very thick and hard. Dry hills and rocks, barrens of Ky . and Tenn. June- 

 Aug. 



12. H. BissSllii Robinson. Stems subsimple or with short ascending branches, 

 somewhat woody below, 4-5 dm. high ; leaves narrowly oblong, obtusish, as- 

 cending, 2.5-3.5 cm. long, 3-5 mm. wide, 1-nerved, deep green above, pale 

 beneath; cyme about 20-flowered, leafy-bracted, the bracts ovate; flowers 1.5 

 cm. broad ; sepals very unequal, the largest broad-ovate, 1.3 cm. long, 8 mm. 

 wide, subcordate, acuminate ; petals oblong-obovate, oblique, with a mucro on 

 one side near the tip. Southington, Ct. (Bissell}. 



13. H. cistifblium Lam. Stems mostly simple, herbaceous, 3-5 dm. high, 

 with a somewhat woody base, angled with 4 very narrow salient lines ; leaves 

 narrowly oblong to nearly linear, 3-7 cm. long, sessile with a somewhat clasping 

 base; the cyme naked, compound, usually many-flowered; sepals ovate; pods 

 depressed-globular or ovoid-conical; seeds large, oblong, very rough-pitted. 

 (//. sphaerocarpum Michx.) Rocky river-banks, s. w. O. to la., and south w. 

 July-Sept. Flowers small. 



14. H. ellipticum Hook. Stem simple, herbaceous, 2-5 dm. high, obscurely 

 4-angled, from a slender creeping stoloniferous bas? ; leaves spreading, elliptical- 

 oblong, obtuse, usually narrower toward the subclasping base, thin ; cyme nearly 

 naked, rather few-flowered ; petals bright yellow, 6-10 mm. long ; sepals oblong; 

 pods ovoid, very obtuse; seeds minutely striate. Wet places, N. B. to Man., 

 s. to Pa., Mich., Wise., and Minn. July, Aug. Aberrant plants often have 

 small red or purplish petals. 



5. BRATHYS (Mutis) Choisy. Stamens distinct or in 3 clusters; pod 

 l-celled, with 3 strictly parietal placentae ; styles short, distinct, with capi- 

 tate stigmas; petals small, oblong or linear; sepals narrow, erect; slender 

 plants, with ^-angular branches, flowering all summer. 



* Stamens co . 



15. H. virgatum Lam. Stem slender, strict, simple, sharply 4-angled, her- 

 baceous, 3-6 dm. high ; leaves ascending, opaque, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, 

 acute, 1.5-2.7 cm. long, closely sessile by a broad base ; inflorescence compound, 

 naked, the scattered flowers racemose on its ascending branches; petals copper- 

 yellow, 8-10 mm. long ; sepals herbaceous, erect, inclosing the ovoid pod. (H. 

 angulosum Michx.) Wet pine barrens, Pa. to Ga., westw. to O., Ky., and 

 (?) 111. July-Sept. 



Var. ovalifblium Britton. Leaves oval, erect, 1-1.8 cm. long, more than half 

 as broad. Pine barrens, N. J. and southw. 



* * Stamens 5-12. 

 -- Stem simple or loosely branched; leaves linear to ovate, spreading. 



16. H. boreale (Britton) Bicknell. Perennial ; the stems decumbent and 

 leafy-bracted at base, slender, 5-30 cm. high (rarely submersed and very elon- 

 gate) ; leaves elliptic, rounded at tip, sessile, 3-20 mm. long, 3-5-nerved ; cymes 

 leafy-bracted, all the bracts foliaceous and broad; pedicels short ; sepals linear, 

 blunt, shorter than the rounded short-ellipsoid pod (3-5 mm. long). (H. cana- 

 dense, var. minimum Man. ed. 6.) Bogs, margins of ponds, etc., Nfd. to w. 

 Ont., s. to N. J., Pa., O., and Ind. July, Aug. 



17. H. mutilum L. Stem flaccid, widely branching, annual, or perennial 

 with leafy-bracted decumbent bases ; leaves ovate to narrowly oblong, obtuse, 

 partly clasping, 5-nerved; cyme (in well developed plants) diffuse, somewhat 

 leafy-bracted, the ultimate bracts setaceous ; flowers 4 mm. broad ; sepals linear- 



