Hypericum crux-andreae |
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Atlantic St. Peter's-wort, St. Peter's wort |
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Habit | Shrubs, usually erect to suberect, rarely decumbent and rooting, usually unbranched, rarely sparsely branched distally, 1–13.5 dm. |
Stems | internodes 2–4-lined at first, then 2-winged. |
Leaf | blades usually oblong to elliptic, rarely obovate to oblanceolate or triangular-ovate, 12–36 × 6–16 mm, base articulated, rounded to slightly cordate-amplexicaul, without glandlike auricles, margins plane to subrecurved, apex rounded to obtuse, midrib with to 3 pairs of branches. |
Inflorescences | ± narrowly cylindric to narrowly pyramidal, 1–3(–7)-flowered, branching dichasial, from to 4 proximal nodes. |
Flowers | 20–30 mm diam.; sepals persistent, enclosing capsule, 4, unequal, outer broadly ovate to circular, 9–20 × 9–18 mm, apex apiculate or obtuse to rounded, inner narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, 7–14 × 2–4 mm, apex acute to subacute; petals 4, bright yellow, obovate, 11–18 mm; stamens persistent, 80–100; ovary 3(–4)-merous. |
Capsules | narrowly ellipsoid-ovoid, 7–10 × 5–6.5 mm. |
Seeds | not carinate, 0.8 mm; testa shallowly scalariform. |
2n | = 18. |
Hypericum crux-andreae |
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Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. |
Habitat | Moist to dry, pine savannas and flatwoods, meadows, bogs, other wet habitats, lake and pond margins |
Elevation | 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA
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Discussion | Hypericum crux-andreae, long known as Ascyrum stans, is a derivative of H. frondosum in which the tetramerous tendency in the perianth has become fixed. The low, multistemmed form with cuneate leaves, longer- pedicellate flowers, and shorter sepals (A. cuneifolium, A. stans var. obovatum) cannot be separated from typical H. crux-andreae. Linnaeus included “Hypericum ex terra mariana, floribus exiguis luteis” under his phrase name for Ascyrum crux-andreae; that element of the protologue refers to H. mutilum Linnaeus; see N. K. B. Robson (1980). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 85. |
Parent taxa | Hypericaceae > Hypericum |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Ascyrum crux-andreae, A. cuneifolium, A. grandiflorum, A. simplex, A. stans var. obovatum, Hypericoides crux-andreae, H. stans |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Crantz: Inst. Rei Herb. 2: 520. (1766) |
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