5T4 HYPERICACEAE (^ST. JOHN'S- WORT FAMILY) , 



§ 4. BRATHYDroM (Spach) Endl. Similar to %Z\ pod l-celled, loith S 

 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- 



12 H. Biss^llii Robinson. Stems suhsimple or with short ascendhig 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 claspmg 

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

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

 (H. 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 stoloniferoiisbasi ; 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, vei-y 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; slendei 

 plants, with 4i-angular branches, flowering all summer. 



* Stamens co . 



15. H. virglltuni 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 0., Ky., and 

 (?) m. 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., 0., 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, b-nerved; cyme (in well developed plants) diffuse, somewhat 

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



