HARPER'S GUIDE TO WILD FLOWERS 



single, or few in a terminal cyme. Leaves, opposite, oval, grow- 

 ing erect, black-dotted, clasping or sessile. Stem, erect, i or 



2 feet high, flattish, smooth, and leafy. July and August. 



Pine barrens of Long Island to Pennsylvania and south- 

 ward. 



St. Andrew's Cross 



A. hypericoides. — Petals, linear, not longer than the sepals, 

 spreading, 2 on each side, approaching one another in the form of 

 the letter X or the cross of St. Andrew. A lower plant than the 

 last, with narrower and thinner leaves. 



Found in wet or dry sand in Nantucket, Massachusetts to 

 Florida, and far westward. In mountains of Virginia, 2,800 

 feet high. Low t , shrubby, much branched. 



Common St. John's-wort 



Hypericum perforatum — Family, St. John's-wort. Color, yel- 

 low. Sepals, 5. Petals, 5. Stamens, very numerous, united in 



3 or 5 groups. Styles, 3. Pod, 3-celled. Petals and anthers 

 dotted with black. A much-branched, leafy stem, with runners 

 starting near the base, and man}* flowers in a flat cluster. Leaves, 

 oblong or lance-shaped, pellucid-dotted, opposite, sessile, meeting 

 and almost clasping the stem. June to September. 



Very common. A weed when once established difficult to 

 extirpate. Juice tart and blistering to the mouth. Where 

 not too common it is a bright and attractive plant. Im- 

 ported from Europe. 



H. adpressum. — Color, yellow. Sepals and petals, 5. Stamens, 

 many. Flowers, in terminal cymes, leafy near the base. Leaves, 

 long, linear to oblong, acute at apex, thin, dotted. Stem, simple, 

 unbranched, arising from a woody base, 2 or 4-edged or angled, 

 about 18 inches high. Flowers, rather large and conspicuous. 

 July and August. 



Near the coast, moist, sandy shores, Massachusetts to 

 Florida. (See illustration, p. 187.) 



Pale St. John's-wort 



H. ellxpticum. — Petals, pale yellow. Flowers, few, in a cyme 

 which has few or no leaves. Leaves, on the stem, thin, blunt, 

 elliptical to oblong, with a clasping base. 8 to 20 inches high. 

 July and August. 



Wet places over a large area East and West. 



186 



