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Canary Island st john's wort, Canary Islands St. John's wort

Habit Shrubs erect, bushy, 10–50 dm.
Stems

internodes 4-lined at first, then terete.

Leaves

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.

Inflorescences

broadly rounded-pyramidal to broadly cylindric, to 30-flowered.

Flowers

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.

Capsules

pyramidal-ovoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, 9–12 × 7–8 mm.

Seeds

1.5–2 mm, narrowly winged;

testa linear-reticulate to linear-foveolate.

2n

= 40.

Hypericum canariense

Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Disturbed sites
Elevation 20–500 m (100–1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Atlantic Islands (Canary Islands, Madeira) [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 96.
Parent taxa Hypericaceae > Hypericum > sect. Webbia
Sibling taxa
H. adpressum, H. anagalloides, H. apocynifolium, H. ascyron, H. boreale, H. brachyphyllum, H. buckleyi, H. canadense, 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
Synonyms H. floribundum, Webbia canariensis, W. floribunda
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 784. (1753)
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