Hypericum ×mitchellianum
Hypericum canariense
Blue Ridge St. John's wort
Canary Island st john's wort, Canary Islands St. John's wort
internodes usually 2-lined, sometimes 4-lined or not lined, with black glands scattered on and near lines or all over.
internodes 4-lined at first, then terete.
spreading, usually sessile, rarely petiolate (to 0.8 mm);
blade ovate-oblong to oblong or elliptic, 30–42(–52) × 8–22 mm, base subcordate to rounded, margins plane, apex usually rounded, rarely obtuse or subretuse, midrib with 4–5 pairs of branches, tertiary veins densely reticulate toward margins, black glands intramarginal (dense) and laminar (scattered).
spreading, sessile;
blade narrowly elliptic to narrowly elliptic-oblong, 20–70 × 5–15 mm, (proximal usually narrower), base narrowly cuneate to subangustate, margins plane, apex acute to apiculate-obtuse, midrib with 8–12 pairs of branches, tertiary veins densely reticulate toward margins.
corymbiform to broadly pyramidal, (5–)13–61(–124)-flowered, subsidiary branches narrowly ascending or curved-ascending.
broadly rounded-pyramidal to broadly cylindric, to 30-flowered.
15–20 mm diam.;
sepals not imbricate, erect in fruit, lanceolate to ovate-elliptic or elliptic, subequal, (3–)3.6–4.6(–5.5) × 1–2 mm, apex acute to obtuse;
petals golden yellow, narrowly obovate or oblanceolate to elliptic, 6–11 mm;
stamens (37–)42–56(–62);
anther gland black;
styles 1.5–5 mm.
sepals lanceolate, unequal, 3–4.5 × 1–2.2 mm;
petals bright yellow, not red-tinged, oblanceolate-unguiculate, 12–17 mm;
anther gland yellow to orange;
styles widely spreading, 8–14 mm.
ellipsoid to subglobose, 3–7 × 3–4.5 mm, with longitudinal vittae.
pyramidal-ovoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, 9–12 × 7–8 mm.
not carinate, 0.7–0.9 mm;
testa not seen.
1.5–2 mm, narrowly winged;
testa linear-reticulate to linear-foveolate.
= 16.
= 40.
Hypericum ×mitchellianum
Hypericum canariense
Hypericum ×mitchellianum is intermediate in all characters between H. graveolens and H. punctatum and, like the latter, produces a ring of 16 chromosomes at meiosis (D. E. Culwell 1970). Culwell has shown that it hybridizes with H. graveolens in the field and that these species can be crossed artificially. He apparently never suspected that H. mitchellianum could itself be a hybrid. Its intermediate morphology and breeding behavior, together with a distribution almost wholly within that of H. graveolens, suggests strongly that H. mitchellianum is the hybrid H. graveolens × punctatum, which apparently arose when the area of H. punctatum extended into that of H. graveolens.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Hypericum canariense is established at Montecito and Santa Barbara in the hills (P. A. Munz 1974) and along the coast north of Santa Cruz to San Francisco, at locations in Orange and San Mateo counties, and in the San Diego coast region.
The description above agrees with that for Hypericum floribundum regarding sepals lanceolate and acute; in typical H. canariense they are oblong-spatulate and rounded. The variation is continuous; only one species is recognized here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
CA
USDA Plants Database
