84 HTPEEICACE-E. (ST. JOHN'S-WOET FAMILY.) 



2. HYPERICUM, L. St. John's-woht. 



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 placentce turned 

 far bach into the cells : perennial : flowers very large : styles united. 



1. H. pyramidktuin, Ait. (Great St. John's-wokt.) 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 |' 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-celted. 



2. H. Ealmi^num, L. (Kalm's St. John's-wokt.) Branches 4- 

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

 long); flowers few in a cluster (1' wide); pods ovate, 5-celled. — Wet rocks, 

 Niagara Falls and Northern lakes. Aug. 



3. H. proliflcum, 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-celted. — New Jersey 

 to Michigan, Illinois, and southwai'd. July - Sept. — Varies greatly in size, &c. 



Var. densiflbrum. Exceedingly branched above, 1° - 6° high, the 

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

 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. 4 and 5 a little woody at the base : pod one-celled 

 with 3 parietal plcKentm, or incompletely 3 - i-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-olilong, partly 3 - i-celled. — 

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

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



5. H. dolabrif6r.me, 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-cdled, the walls very thick and hard. (H. proeumbens, Michx.) — Dry 

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



6. H. nudiflbrum, 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 J' longj ; cyme compound, many-flowered, 



