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bog john's-wort, bog St. John's-wort, creeping St. John's-wort, tinker's penny

myrtleleaf St. Johnswort

Habit Herbs annual or perennial, decumbent to ascending, with diffusely branching and rooting base, forming loose mats, not usually branched distally, 0.3–1.5 dm. Shrubs, erect, with woody caudex, unbranched or branched distally, 3–10 dm, bark on older stems corky.
Stems

internodes 4-angled.

internodes 4-lined.

Leaves

spreading, sessile or subamplexicaul;

blade ovate or orbiculate to elliptic or oblanceolate (proximal) or oblong (distal), 3–13 × 1.5–8.5 mm, papery to membranous, margins plane, apex rounded, basal veins 3–5(–7), distally looped, midrib unbranched.

blades oblong-ovate to triangular-lanceolate, 8–40 × (5–)7–20 mm, base articulated, subcordate-amplexicaul, margins recurved, apex rounded, midrib with 3 or 4 pairs of branches.

Inflorescences

loosely corymbiform, 1–14-flowered, branching mostly dichasial.

hemispheric to ± flat-topped, 7–30-flowered, widely branched, with flowers or flowering branches from to 3 proximal nodes.

Flowers

3–5(–8) mm diam.;

sepals usually narrowly elliptic-oblong to oblanceolate-spatulate, rarely obovate, unequal, 2–4 × 0.9–2 mm, margins sometimes ciliate, not setulose-ciliate, apex subacute to rounded;

petals golden yellow to salmon-orange, oblanceolate, (1.7–)3.5–5 mm;

stamens (5–)12–15(–25), separate or obscurely 3-fascicled;

styles 0.5–2 mm;

stigmas scarcely capitate.

15–25 mm diam.;

sepals persistent, not enclosing capsule, 5, ovate to lanceolate, unequal to subequal, 5–8 × 2–4.5 mm;

petals 5, bright yellow, obovate to oblong-lanceolate, 8–15 mm;

stamens deciduous, 200;

ovary 3(–4)-merous.

Capsules

ellipsoid to cylindric or subglobose, 2.5–5 × 1.7–2.5 mm.

pyramidal-ovoid, 5–6 × 3–4 mm.

Seeds

0.5–0.6 mm;

testa linear-scalariform.

narrowly carinate, 1 mm;

testa shallowly linear-reticulate.

2n

= 16.

= 18.

Hypericum anagalloides

Hypericum myrtifolium

Phenology Flowering spring–late summer (May–Sep). Flowering late spring–summer (May–Jul), sometimes fall.
Habitat Bogs, ditches, lake and stream margins, meadows, other damp habitats Moist pinewoods, grassy bogs, pond margins, ditches
Elevation 50–2700 m [160–8900 ft] 0–200 m [0–700 ft]
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; MS; SC
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

As reflected in the synonymy, Hypericum anagalloides is variable; none of the variations merits taxonomic recognition.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Hypericum myrtifolium is related to H. frondosum; it differs in its shorter, usually amplexicaul leaves, the widely dichasially branched inflorescences, and persistent sepals.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 95. FNA vol. 6, p. 84.
Parent taxa Hypericaceae > Hypericum > sect. Brathys Hypericaceae > Hypericum > sect. Myriandra
Sibling taxa
H. adpressum, H. apocynifolium, H. ascyron, H. boreale, H. brachyphyllum, H. buckleyi, H. canadense, H. canariense, H. chapmanii, H. cistifolium, H. concinnum, H. crux-andreae, H. cumulicola, H. densiflorum, H. denticulatum, H. dolabriforme, H. drummondii, H. edisonianum, H. ellipticum, H. erythreae, H. fasciculatum, H. frondosum, H. galioides, H. gentianoides, H. graveolens, H. gymnanthum, H. harperi, H. hypericoides, H. kalmianum, H. lissophloeus, H. lloydii, H. lobocarpum, H. maculatum, H. majus, H. microsepalum, H. mutilum, H. myrtifolium, H. nitidum, H. nudiflorum, H. paucifolium, H. perforatum, H. prolificum, H. pseudomaculatum, H. punctatum, H. radfordiorum, H. scouleri, H. setosum, H. sphaerocarpum, H. suffruticosum, H. tenuifolium, H. tetrapetalum, H. virgatum, H. ×mitchellianum
H. adpressum, H. anagalloides, H. apocynifolium, H. ascyron, H. boreale, H. brachyphyllum, H. buckleyi, H. canadense, H. canariense, H. chapmanii, H. cistifolium, H. concinnum, H. crux-andreae, H. cumulicola, H. densiflorum, H. denticulatum, H. dolabriforme, H. drummondii, H. edisonianum, H. ellipticum, H. erythreae, H. fasciculatum, H. frondosum, H. galioides, H. gentianoides, H. graveolens, H. gymnanthum, H. harperi, H. hypericoides, H. kalmianum, H. lissophloeus, H. lloydii, H. lobocarpum, H. maculatum, H. majus, H. microsepalum, H. mutilum, H. nitidum, H. nudiflorum, H. paucifolium, H. perforatum, H. prolificum, H. pseudomaculatum, H. punctatum, H. radfordiorum, H. scouleri, H. setosum, H. sphaerocarpum, H. suffruticosum, H. tenuifolium, H. tetrapetalum, H. virgatum, H. ×mitchellianum
Synonyms H. anagalloides var. calicifolium, H. anagalloides var. cymosum, H. anagalloides var. nevadense, H. anagalloides var. pumilum, H. anagalloides var. ramigerum, H. anagalloides var. undulatum, H. bryophytum, H. tapetoides Brathydium myrtifolium, H. glaucum, H. sessiliflorum, Myriandra glauca
Name authority Chamisso & Schlechtendal: Linnaea 3: 127. (1828) Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 180. (1797)
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