MYEICAEIA 



ST. JOHN'S WOBT OBDEB 



HYPERICUM 265 



narrow, clustered leaves. Flowers rosy 

 or white, in long spiked terminal 

 racemes, leafy at the base. Sepals and 

 petals 5, free. Stamens usually 10, 

 inserted on the disc, slightly connate at 

 the base or beyond the middle. 



M. germanica. — An elegant Heath- 

 like shrub 3-6 ft. high, native of Europe 

 and Asia, with rigid, erect, and slightly 

 angular branches. Leaves somewhat 

 glaucous, linear, blunt, spotted. Flowers 

 in summer, white or rose-tinted, in spike - 

 like racemes ; petals lance-shaped, acute. 

 CuUv/re amd Propagation. — The 

 above is the only species of note. It 

 is a good shrub for dry banks in warm 

 sandy soils, and may be increased by 

 seeds sown in the open air about May, 

 or by cuttings of the firm young wood 

 during the summer months, inserted in 

 light sandy soil under a handlight. They 

 may be transplanted in mild weather the 

 following spring. 



REAUMURIA.— A genus of 10 

 species of little-known much-branched 



procumbent or straggling shrubs with 

 small or roundish, fleshy, often clustered 

 leaves. Flowers terminal, solitary, often 

 showy, larger than in Tamarix. Sepals 

 5, nearly connate at the base or almost 

 free, surrounded by few or many imbri- 

 cated sepaloid bracts. Claws of the petals 

 broad. Stamens numerous, free, or in 

 5 bundles opposite the petals, more or 

 less connate at the base. Styles 5, awl- 

 like. 



R. hypericoides. — A beautiful Syrian 

 shrub about 2 ft. high, with leathery 

 leaves, varying from linear to lanceolate 

 oblong. Flowers in summer, purple ; 

 petals irregular, ovate or ovate-oblong, 

 very blunt, with appendices short and 

 slightly fimbriate at the apex. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 species grows readily in sandy loam and 

 peat in a warm corner of the border or 

 shrubbery. Cuttings of the ripe young 

 wood root readily in a sandy soil under 

 a bell glass in the same way as re- 

 commended for ToMiarix and Myri- 



XXII. HYPERICINEiE— St. John's Wort Order 



An order containing 8 genera and over 200 species of evergreen or deciduous 

 herbs, shrubs, or rarely trees. Leaves opposite, rarely verticillate, simple, 

 entire, penni-nerved, or glandular-toothed, herbaceous, or very rarely leathery 

 in texture, sometimes small or needle-like, usually full of pellucid dots, and 

 bordered with black glands. Stipules none. Plovyers regular, hermaphro- 

 dite, terminal or rarely axillary, solitary, cymose or cymose paniculate, 

 usually yellovy or white. Sepals 5, rarely 4, imbricate. Petals 5, rarely 4, 

 hypogynous, imbricate, often contorted, bordered with blackish dots, some- 

 J^mes with a fleshy scale or hollow at the base. Stamens numerous, hypo - 

 gynous, often in 3 or 5 connate or approaching bundles, sometimes in many 

 bundles, with fleshy glands intervening. 



HYPERICUM (St. John's Woet). 

 A genus containing about 160 species 

 of deciduous or evergreen shrubs or under- 

 shrubs. Leaves often almost sessile, 

 small or membranaceous, entire or rarely 

 somewhat toothed, usually with pellucid 

 black dots at the edges. Flowers yellow, 

 rarely white, solitary, cymose or panicu- 

 late. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens free 

 or slightly cohering at the base into 3-8 

 bundles. Styles distinct or- rarely co- 

 hering. 



Culture and Propagation. — Hyperi- 

 cums prefer a rich sandy loam, but will 

 grow readily in any ordinary garden soil. 



They are useful for shrubberies, borders, 

 banks, or in beds by themselves. They 

 are increased quickly from seeds or cut- 

 tings, or by dividing the creeping rooted 

 species. The half-hardy kinds may 

 require a little protection in winter in 

 northern parts of the country. All the 

 kinds described below lose their leaves 

 in winter and have yellow flowers except 

 where otherwise stated. 



H. aegyptiacum. — A half-hardy roimd- 

 stemmed evergreen 6-18 in. high, native 

 of N. Africa and the Levant. Leaves 

 glaucous, small, ovate, crowded, without 



