44 



BRITISH FLORA 



ORDER CARYOPHYLLACE^E 



Wood Stitchwort (Stellaria nemorum, L.). 

 The habitat of this plant is damp woods, chiefly 

 in the north. The habit is grass-like. The stem 

 is erect or ascending, round, stout, downy above, 

 shining, brittle. The lower leaves are rough 

 above, long-stalked, heart-shaped, the upper 

 stalkless, egg-shaped. The flowers are white, in 

 a loose-panicled cyme on slender flower-stalks, 

 the petals longer than the sepals, deeply cut, 

 narrow. The sepals are blunt, lance-shaped, with 

 membranous margins. There are 3 styles. The 

 capsule is egg-shaped, as long as or longer than 

 the sepals, the fruit- stalk spreading or turned 

 back. The plant is 1-2 ft. in height. It flowers 

 in May and June, and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Stitchwort (Stellaria neglecta, Weihe, non Bab.). 

 The habitat of this plant is shady banks. The 

 habit is erect. The plant resembles S. media, but 

 has larger leaves, with longer stalks, the upper 

 stalkless, the lower inversely heart-shaped. There 

 are also 10 stamens. The seeds have prominently 

 rounded wart-like knobs. The plant is 3-12 in. 

 in height, or more, up to 18 in., and is in flower 

 from April to July, being a herbaceous annual. 



ORDER HYPERICACE.E 



Tutsan (Hypericum Androscemum, L.). The 

 habitat of this plant is thickets. The habit is 

 that of undershrubs in general, the stem being 

 shrubby, erect, square, flattened at the margin. 

 The leaves are large, stalkless, almost heart- 

 shaped to egg-shaped, blunt, aromatic, glandular. 

 The flowers are in terminal cymes, few, yellow, 

 the petals oval, short, oblique, falling, the sepals 

 broad, blunt, unequal, glandular, as long as the 

 petals and stamens. The 3 styles are bent back, 

 shorter than the capsule. The stamens are in 5 

 groups. The fruit is a black round berry, pulpy, 

 blunt, imperfectly '3-celled. The plant is 1-3 ft. 

 in height, flowering in July and August. It is 

 a perennial undershrub. 



Stinking St. John's Wort (Hypericum hircinum, 

 L.). This plant is established in some spots in 

 the country in plantations, but it is not a native 

 species. The habit is shrubby like that of the 

 last, the stem being erect. The leaves are stalk- 

 less, lance-shaped. The flowers are yellow, with 

 lance-shaped, acute, falling sepals. The petals 

 are not as long as the stamens. The 3 styles 

 are nearly erect. The plant otherwise closely 

 resembles H. elatum (q.v.). The plant is 1-3 ft. 

 in height, and flowers from June to August. It 

 is a perennial shrub. 



Tall Tutsan (Hypericum elatum, Ait.). The Tall 

 Tutsan is established in plantations, not being 

 a native of this country, but found in Europe. 

 The habit is that of Tutsan; it is, however, 

 taller. The stems are 2-edged, much-branched. 

 The leaves are heart-shaped to egg-shaped, or 

 acute, longer. The flowers are large, yellow, on 

 2-winged stalks, in a few-flowered terminal cyme, 

 the petals twice as long as the sepals, which are 



broad and unequal and do not fall, and nearly as 

 large as in Tutsan. The petals are as long as 

 the stamens, which are not as long as the nearly 

 erect styles. The capsule is oval. The stem is 

 3-4 ft. in height, and flowers in June up till August 

 or September, being a perennial shrub. 



Rose of Sharon (Hypericum calvcinum, L.). 

 This plant is established in plantations, bushy 

 places, hedges, and thickets. The habit is shrub- 

 like, creeping, the stem erect. The stem is nearly 

 simple, square or flattened at the margin. It has 

 creeping suckers, and grows and spreads freely, 

 but rarely sets seed. The leaves are stalkless, 

 oblong, blunt, leathery, with large scattered 

 glands. The flowers are large, yellow, solitary 

 (3-4 in. across). The outer sepals are rounded, 

 half as long as the petals, which are unequal- 

 sided, the former blunt, inversely egg-shaped. 

 The stamens are in bundles of 5. The capsule 

 is egg-shaped, 5-celled at the base. The plant 

 is 6-18 in. in height, flowering from June to 

 September. The Rose of Sharon is a perennial 

 shrub. 



Hairy St. John's Wort (Hypericum hirsutum, L.). 

 This plant is found in woods, copses, thickets, 

 hedgerows. The habit is erect. The stem is 

 rounded, downy, nearly simple, the leaves hair}' 

 below, egg-shaped, oblong, blunt, shortly stalked, 

 with pellucid or nearly transparent glands (none 

 on the margin), dotted. The flowers are pale- 

 yellow, in the axils, or terminal in forked panicles, 

 the sepals linear-oblong, nearly acute, fringed 

 with shortly-stalked glands. The petals are twice 

 as long as the sepals, and lance-shaped, acute, 

 tipped with stalked glands. The styles fall. The 

 stamens are in bundles of three. The plant is 

 1-3 ft. in height. It flowers in July and August, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Mountain St. John's Wort (Hypericum mon- 

 tanum, L.). The habitat of this plant is thickets 

 on calcareous soil, bushy limestone hills, copses, 

 in gravelly and chalky soil. The habit is erect or 

 ascending. The stems are smooth, round, rigid, 

 slender, leafless above. The leaves are mem- 

 branous, egg-shaped, oblong, blunt, stalkless, with 

 pinholes and transparent glands, and black dots 

 near the border, the upper heart-shaped, linear, 

 downy below. The pale-yellow flowers are in 

 dense terminal panicles, fragrant. The petals are 

 without glands, twice as long as the sepals, elliptic, 

 entire, the sepals lance-shaped, acute, with a fringe 

 of shortly-stalked glands. The styles are half as 

 long as the capsule, the stamens in 3 bundles. 

 The plant is 1-3 ft. in height, and flowers from 

 June to August. It is a herbaceous perennial. 



ORDER MALVACEAE 



Hairy Mallow (Althcea hirsufa, L.). This 

 species is an alien, found in woods, fields, dry 

 places, cornfields, and cultivated ground. The 

 habit is prostrate or ascending. The stems are 

 stiffly hairy, numerous, ascending, slender, the 

 leaves stiffly hairy, heart-shaped, on long stalks, 

 kidney-shaped, with 5 acute lobes, scalloped, the 



