158 
NAT. ORDER. HYPERICINE^. 
sessile ; flowers about the size of those of the Hypericum perforatum, 
(ex. vol. i. pag-e 55.) It is a native of North America, in the pine 
woods of Georgia and Florida, and flowers in July. 
Hypericum hirsutum. Hairy St. John's- wort. This plant rises 
from two to three feet hig-h, and sends up an erect, round, hairy stem ; 
leaves ovate-oblong-, downy, ribbed, full of pellucid dots intermixed 
with a few dark ones ; panicle long, racemose ; calyx lanceolate, 
somewhat acute ; fringed like the bracteas with numerous black, vis- 
cid glands, on shortish stalks, such as also terminate the petals ; styles 
diverging ; flowers of a bright yellow color ; according to Linnaeus 
they close at night. It is a hardy, herbaceous plant. Native of most 
parts of Europe, and the northern parts of the United States, in shady 
places, thickets and hedges, and chiefly on a dry, chalky soil. It 
flowers in June and July, and sometimes late in August. 
Propagation and Culture. The greater part of the species are 
very showy, although they have quite a common appearance. The 
hardy, herbaceous kinds will grow in any common garden-soil, and are 
easily increased by dividing- the plants at the roots or by seeds ; the 
stove, frame, and green-house herbaceous species should be increased 
in the same manner. The annual sorts only require to be sown in the 
open border about the beginning of April. The hardy, shrubby kinds, 
being dwarf and showy, are well fitted for the front of shrubberies ; 
they will thrive in any common garden soil, and are easily increased 
by dividing the plants at the root, by seeds, or by cuttings planted un- 
der a hand-glass. The green-house and frame shrubby kinds will 
thrive well in a mixture of loam and peat, and young cuttings of them 
will root freely in sand under a bell-glass. The stove shrubby species 
will thrive in the same kind of soil as that recommended for the green- 
house species, and young cuttings of them will root in sand under a 
bell-glass in heat. 
Medical Properties and Uses. Nearly the same properties per- 
vade all the species of this extensive genus. Hypericum hircinum, is 
promiscuously gathered and sold with the Hypericum perforatum, be- 
