Hypericum dolabriforme |
Hypericum nitidum |
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straggling St. John's-wort |
Carolina St. Johnswort |
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Habit | Subshrubs, decumbent and woody (not rooting) at base, branching at base or throughout, 1.5–5 dm, bark thin. | Shrubs, erect, forming dense thickets, 3–45 dm, bark smooth, not metallic-silvery. | ||||
Stems | internodes 4-lined at first, then 2-lined to terete. |
internodes 4-lined at first, becoming 2-winged, then terete. |
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Leaf | blades linear-elliptic or linear-oblong to linear, 20–35 × 3–5 mm (main stem), base not articulated, narrowly cuneate to rounded, margins recurved to revolute, apex obtuse to acute, midrib unbranched. |
blades linear or linear-subulate, 9–26 × 0.5–1.5 mm, base articulated, narrowly cuneate or parallel, margins revolute, apex rounded or acute to long-acuminate with prominent hydathode, midrib unbranched. |
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Inflorescences | obconic, (1–)3–20-flowered, ± widely branched, sometimes with single flowers at immediately proximal nodes. |
narrowly to broadly cylindric, 3–15-flowered, sometimes with 1–3(–7)-flowered dichasia from to 6 proximal nodes, sometimes with 1–2 pairs of additional flowering branches. |
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Flowers | 15–20 mm diam.; sepals persistent, not enclosing capsule, 5, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, ± foliaceous, unequal, 5–8(–15) × 2–3(–8)mm; petals 5, yellow, curved-dolabriform, 10–13 mm; stamens deciduous, 120–200; ovary 3-merous. |
10–18 mm diam.; sepals deciduous, not enclosing capsule, 5, linear-subulate, unequal to subequal, 3.5–7 × 0.4–0.8 mm; petals 5, yellow, obovate to elliptic-lanceolate, (5–)6–10 mm; stamens deciduous, 50–80(–115); ovary 3-merous; styles shorter than ovaries. |
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Capsules | ovoid-conic, rostrate, 4–9 × 3–4 mm. |
narrowly conic to cylindric, (4.5–)5–7 × (1.3–)2–3 mm. |
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Seeds | carinate, 1.5–1.8 mm; testa reticulate-scalariform. |
scarcely carinate, 0.5 mm; testa finely reticulate. |
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2n | = 18. |
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Hypericum dolabriforme |
Hypericum nitidum |
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Phenology | Flowering summer (Jun–Sep). | |||||
Habitat | Limestone outcrops, cedar glades, dry, rocky stream beds | |||||
Elevation | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
CT; GA; IN; KY; TN |
AL; FL; GA; NC; SC; West Indies (Cuba); Central America (Belize)
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Discussion | Hypericum dolabriforme is superficially similar to H. sphaerocarpum, to which W. P. Adams (1962) related it. Apart from the narrow leaves and unequal sepals, it is much nearer morphologically to H. myrtifolium (for example, in the wide-spreading inflorescence, numbers of stamens, and ovoid-conic capsules). Hypericum bissellii, described from a plant growing in Southington, Connecticut, is unlikely to be indigenous in that state. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 3 (2 in the flora). The two subspecies of Hypericum nitidum present in North America apparently remain distinct there; the distinctions are less clear in Cuba, where subsp. cubense (Turczaninow) N. Robson is also present. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 84. | FNA vol. 6, p. 79. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
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Synonyms | Brathydium dolabriforme, H. bissellii, H. procumbens | Myriandra nitida | ||||
Name authority | Ventenat: Descr. Pl. Nouv., plate 45. (1801) | Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 160. (1797) | ||||
Web links |