Hypericum crux-andreae |
Hypericum tetrapetalum |
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Atlantic St. Peter's-wort, St. Peter's wort |
fourpetal St. Johnswort |
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Habit | Shrubs, usually erect to suberect, rarely decumbent and rooting, usually unbranched, rarely sparsely branched distally, 1–13.5 dm. | Herbs (perennial) or shrubs, erect, with woody base, usually unbranched, sometimes with divaricate or ascending branches, 2–10 dm. |
Stems | internodes 2–4-lined at first, then 2-winged. |
internodes (2–)4-lined at first, then 2-lined to terete. |
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. |
blades oblong-ovate to ovate or triangular-ovate, 5–35 × 4–15 mm, base articulated, cordate-amplexicaul, margins subrecurved, apex apiculate or obtuse to rounded, midrib with 1 pair of branches. |
Inflorescences | ± narrowly cylindric to narrowly pyramidal, 1–3(–7)-flowered, branching dichasial, from to 4 proximal nodes. |
terminal, 1(–3)-flowered, branching from apical node pseudodichotomous, sometimes with relatively short branches from to 3 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. |
20–30 mm diam.; sepals persistent, enclosing capsule, 4, unequal, outer broadly ovate, 7–15 × 5.5–10 mm, apex subapiculate to obtuse, inner narrowly lanceolate, 7–15 × 2–3 mm, apex acute; petals 4, bright yellow, obovate-oblong, 10–15 mm; stamens persistent, 100; ovary 3-merous. |
Capsules | narrowly ellipsoid-ovoid, 7–10 × 5–6.5 mm. |
broadly ellipsoid-ovoid to subglobose, 5–6 × 3.5–4 mm. |
Seeds | not carinate, 0.8 mm; testa shallowly scalariform. |
not carinate, 0.7 mm; testa shallowly scalariform. |
2n | = 18. |
= 18. |
Hypericum crux-andreae |
Hypericum tetrapetalum |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer–fall. | Flowering winter–spring (Jan–Apr), late summer (Jul–Sep). |
Habitat | Moist to dry, pine savannas and flatwoods, meadows, bogs, other wet habitats, lake and pond margins | Moist, low pinelands, ditches |
Elevation | 0–1500 m (0–4900 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 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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AL; FL; GA; West Indies (w Cuba)
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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.) |
Hypericum tetrapetalum differs from H. crux-andreae in having broader leaves with strongly cordate-amplexicaul bases and, nearly always, by terminal pseudodichotomous inflorescences. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 85. | FNA vol. 6, p. 86. |
Parent taxa | Hypericaceae > Hypericum | Hypericaceae > Hypericum > sect. Myriandra |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Ascyrum crux-andreae, A. cuneifolium, A. grandiflorum, A. simplex, A. stans var. obovatum, Hypericoides crux-andreae, H. stans | Ascyrum amplexicaule, A. cubense, A. tetrapetalum |
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Crantz: Inst. Rei Herb. 2: 520. (1766) | Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 153. (1797) |
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