50 HTPEEICACEjE. (sT. JOHn'S-WOKT rAMILT.) 



2. H. H.alEIlianuin, L. Bushy, l°-3° high; branches 4-angled; 

 branchlets 2-edged ; leaves crowded, glaucous, oblanceolate ; flowers few in a 

 duster ; pods ovate 5-ceUed. — Wet rocks, Niagara Talis and Northern lakes. 

 Aug. — Leaves 1'- 2 'long. !Flowers 1' wide. 



3. H. prolificuMt, L. (Shkubbt St. John's-wort.) Branchlets 2- 

 cdged ; leaves lanceolate-oblong, mostly obtuse, naiTowed at the base ; flowers 

 numerous, in simple or "compound clusters ; pods oblong, 3-celled. — Now Jersey 

 to Micliigan, Illinois, and southward. July -Sept. — Shrab l°-4° high, with 

 long rather simple shoots, leaves 2' long and ^' or more wide, and flowers %' - 1' 

 in diameter. Varies greatly in size, &c. 



Var. (lensiflurum. Exceedingly branched above, l°-6° high, the 

 branches slender and crowded with smaller leaves; flowers smaller (J'-f in 

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

 & H. galioides, Pursh.) — Pine baiTens of New Jersey, and glades of Western 

 Maryland, Kentucky, and southward. 



♦ * Perennial heris : styles (diveiying) and cells of the pod 3 : petals and anthers 

 with black dots : calyx erect : stamens distinctly in S or S clusters. 



4. II. PEEFOKiinsi, L. (Common St. John's-woet.) Stem much 

 branched and corymbed, somewhat 2-edged (producing runners from the base) ; 

 leaves elliptical-oblong or linear-oblong, with pellucid dots ; petals (deep yellow) 

 twice the length of the lanceolate acute sepals ; flowers numerous, in open leafy 

 cymes. — Pastures and meadows, &c. Juno -Sept. — Too well kno^vn every- 

 where as a pernicious weed, which it is difficult to extirpate. Its juices are very 

 acrid. (Nat. from Eu.) 



5. H. coi'y)lll>d.silin, Muhl. Conspicuously marked with hotli black 

 and pellucid dots ; stem terete, sparingly branched ; leaves oblong, somewhat 

 clasping ; Jlowers crowded (small) ; petals pale yellow, much longer than the 

 oblong sepals. — Damp places; common. July-Sept. — Leaves larger and 

 flowers much smaller than in No. 4; the petals 2" -3" long, marked with blaclt 

 lines as well as dots. 



§ 3. Stamens very numerous, obscurely clustered : pod l-celled, or incompletely 3-celled, 

 the 3 placentae sometimes borne on short partitions, hut not joined in the centre : 

 perennial herbs or low shrubs. 

 * Sepals foliaceous and spreading, miequal : styles more or less united into one. 



6. H. ellipticum, Hook. Stem simple, herbaceous (1° high), obscure- 

 ly 4-angled ; leaves spreading, elliptical-oblong, obtuse, tliin ; cyme nearly nalced, 

 rather few-flowered ; sepals oblong ; pods ovoid, very obtuse, purple, l-celled. — 

 Wet places, New England and Pennsylvania to Lake Superior and northward. 

 July, Aug. — Petals light yellow, 3" long. 



7. II. adprcSSUSM, Barton. Stem simple, herbaceous, or slightly woody 

 at the base (1° -2° high), obscurely 4-angled below and 2-cdged above; leaves 

 ascending, lanceolate or linear-oblong, often acute, thin ; cj^me leafy at the base, 

 few-flowered ; sepals linear-lanceolate ; pods ovoid-oblong, incompletely 3 - i-celled. — 

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

 word. July, Aug. — Leaves 1^' long. Petals bright yellow, 3"-5" long. 



