Hypericum pseudomaculatum |
Hypericum hypericoides |
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false spotted St. Johnswort |
St. Andrew's cross |
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Habit | Herbs erect or ascending to divaricate, with rooting, sometimes creeping, branching base, 4–9.5 dm. | Subshrubs or shrubs, erect or decumbent to prostrate, unbranched or branched, sometimes diffuse and mat-forming, 0.5–3 or 3–15 dm. | ||||
Stems | sometimes clustered, internodes not lined, with black glands scattered all over. |
internodes 2-winged. |
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Leaves | usually ascending, sometimes spreading, sessile; blade usually ovate-lanceolate to triangular-lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, rarely ovate, 18–45 × 6–16(–20) mm, base cordate to rounded, margins plane, apex usually acute, rarely obtuse to rounded, midrib with 3–4 pairs of branches, tertiary veins densely reticulate toward margins, black glands intramarginal (dense) and laminar (scattered). |
blades oblanceolate or narrowly oblong or elliptic to linear, 7–25 × 1–8.5 mm, base not articulated, usually cuneate, sometimes rounded, with glandlike auricles, margins subrecurved, apex rounded to obtuse, midrib with 1–2 pairs of branches. |
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Inflorescences | subcorymbiform to broadly pyramidal, 16–164(–280)-flowered, subsidiary branches ascending to widely spreading. |
narrowly cylindric to pyramidal, 1–12-flowered from 1–4 nodes, sometimes with branches from to 10 proximal nodes, or branching more elaborate and pseudodichotomous; pedicels erect in fruit, bracteoles distal. |
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Flowers | 10–20 mm diam.; sepals not imbricate, erect in fruit, lanceolate to ovate or elliptic-oblong, subequal, (3–)3.7–4.9(–6) mm, apex acute; petals yellow, usually obovate, rarely elliptic, 6–14 mm; stamens 38–61; anther gland amber or pellucid; styles 5.4–8.5 mm. |
10–20 mm diam.; sepals persistent, enclosing capsule, 4, unequal, outer ovate-suborbiculate to narrowly elliptic, 5–12.5 × 2–13 mm, apex subapiculate to obtuse, inner lanceolate, 1–4 × 2 mm, apex acute; petals 4, bright to pale yellow, obovate to narrowly oblong-elliptic, 6–12 mm; stamens persistent, 40–50; ovary 2-merous. |
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Capsules | broadly ovoid, 3–6 × 2–4 mm, with longitudinal and lateral vittae or vesicles or only ovoid vesicles (all amber). |
narrowly compressed-ovoid to cylindric-ellipsoid, 5–9 × 2–4 mm. |
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Seeds | not or scarcely carinate, 0.6–0.8 mm; testa linear-reticulate. |
not carinate, 0.6–0.8 mm; testa finely linear-reticulate to linear-foveolate. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Hypericum pseudomaculatum |
Hypericum hypericoides |
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Phenology | Flowering mid summer (Jun–Jul). | |||||
Habitat | Open and partially shaded, dry areas of woods, among rocks, fields, roadsides, well-drained soil | |||||
Elevation | 100–700 m (300–2300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; LA; MO; MS; OK; SC; TN; TX
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AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; Mexico; West Indies (Bahamas, Greater Antilles); Bermuda; Central America (Guatemala, Honduras)
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Discussion | Hypericum pseudomaculatum has been confused with H. punctatum; they are quite distinct and they rarely, if ever, hybridize. The affinities of H. pseudomaculatum are with Mexican H. formosum Kunth. J. A. Steyermark (1963) recognized two distinct floral forms in Missouri: forma pseudomaculatum with orange-yellow petals and stamen filaments, and forma flavidum in which these parts are pale, creamy yellow. The distribution of these two forms within the whole range of the species is unknown. Hypericum elatum Aiton (a synonym of H. ×inodorum Miller = H. androsaemum Linnaeus × hircinum Linnaeus) was wrongly cited as from North America by Aiton and was not conclusively recognized as an Old World taxon until J. M. Coulter (1886) published his account of North American Hypericum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 3 (2 in the flora). Hypericum hypericoides can be distinguished from H. crux-andreae by the two-merous ovary, narrower leaves, smaller flowers, and more richly-branched stems. It is variable in leaf and sepal shape and size; three subspecies can be recognized. The erect bushy form (subsp. hypericoides) is most widespread and has given rise to a northern diffuse form (subsp. multicaule) in the United States and a prostrate form (subsp. prostratum N. Robson) in Hispaniola. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 102. | FNA vol. 6, p. 87. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
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Synonyms | H. punctatum var. pseudomaculatum | Ascyrum hypericoides | ||||
Name authority | Bush ex Britton: Man. Fl. N. States, 627. (1901) | (Linnaeus) Crantz: Inst. Rei Herb. 2: 520. (1766) | ||||
Web links |