Hypericum punctatum |
Hypericum virgatum |
|
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spotted St. John's-wort |
sharpleaf St. Johnswort |
|
Habit | Herbs erect to ascending, with rarely rooting, branching base, 1.3–10.5 dm. | Herbs perennial, erect, unbranched or branching at base and in inflorescence, 4–7.5(–10) dm. |
Stems | clustered, internodes not lined, with black glands scattered all over. |
internodes 4-lined. |
Leaves | spreading or ascending, usually sessile, rarely petiolate (to 1 mm); blade elliptic or oblong to lanceolate or triangular-lanceolate, or oblanceolate, 14–40(–58) × 3–17(–22.5) mm, base cordate to narrowly cuneate, margins plane, apex usually rounded to retuse, rarely acute to obtuse, midrib with 3–5 pairs of branches, tertiary veins densely reticulate toward margins, black glands intramarginal (dense) and laminar (scattered). |
(main stem) ascending to spreading, sessile; blade lanceolate to oblong-elliptic or obovate, 10–30(–50) × 3–8(–12) mm, on main stem, longer than internodes, leathery, margins plane, apex usually acute to acuminate, rarely obtuse, basal veins 1–3+, midrib with 2–3 pairs of inconspicuous branches. |
Inflorescences | subcorymbiform to cylindric, 10–206(–600)-flowered, subsidiary branches narrowly ascending to curved-ascending. |
broadly cylindric to corymbiform, 25–70-flowered, branching mostly dichasial, subsidiary branches with or without relatively smaller leaves. |
Flowers | 8–15 mm diam.; sepals not imbricate, erect in fruit, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate to elliptic or ovate-elliptic, subequal, (1.5–)2–4 × 0.8–1.6 mm, apex acute to rounded; petals pale yellow, oblanceolate to elliptic, 3–6(–9) mm; stamens (20–)30–60; anther gland black; styles 1–4 mm. |
8–13 mm diam.; sepals narrowly ovate to lanceolate, equal, 3–3.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, margins sometimes ciliate, not setulose-ciliate, apex acute to acuminate; petals orange-yellow, obovate, 6–10 mm; stamens 50–80, irregularly grouped; styles 2–4 mm; stigmas capitate. |
Capsules | ovoid to subglobose, 2.5–6 × 2–3.5(–4) mm, with longitudinal vittae or elongate to ovoid vesicles. |
ovoid to rostrate-subglobose, 3–5 × 2–3 mm. |
Seeds | not carinate, 0.5–0.7 mm; testa linear-reticulate. |
(0.5–)0.6–0.8(–0.9) mm; testa reticulate. |
2n | = 14, 16. |
= 24. |
Hypericum punctatum |
Hypericum virgatum |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer (May–Sep). | Flowering mid–late summer (Jun–Sep). |
Habitat | Open or slightly shaded, dry to marshy habitats | Dry roadsides, fields, open woods |
Elevation | 50–1200 m (200–3900 ft) | 0–700 m (0–2300 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; NF; NS; ON; QC
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AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; OH; SC; TN; VA; WV |
Discussion | Hypericum punctatum has been confused with H. pseudomaculatum; it can almost always be distinguished by style length and anther gland (black in H. punctatum, amber or pellucid in H. pseudomaculatum). D. E. Culwell’s (1970) record of one specimen of the latter from Missouri with a black anther gland could refer to a hybrid; he and other authors agree that such plants are rare, despite the considerable overlap in distribution of these species. Culwell remarked on the unexpected fecundity of the experimentally produced cross H. graveolens × punctatum but nowhere compared the resulting plants with H. ×mitchellianum, a probable hybrid with that parentage (see discussion under H. ×mitchellianum. Both H. punctatum and H. ×mitchellianum (but not H. graveolens) display a ring of 16 chromosomes at meiosis, and Culwell suggested that this phenomenon may imply some degree of pseudogamy in the group. C. R. Bell (1965) recorded n = 7 chromosomes for this species; his illustration shows n = 8. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 101. | FNA vol. 6, p. 90. |
Parent taxa | Hypericaceae > Hypericum > sect. Hypericum | Hypericaceae > Hypericum > sect. Brathys |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | H. maculatum var. corymbosum, H. maculatum var. heterophyllum, H. maculatum var. subcordifolium, H. maculatum var. subpetiolatum, H. micranthum, H. subpetiolatum | Brathys lanceolata, H. acutifolium, H. denticulatum subsp. acutifolium, H. denticulatum var. acutifolium, H. denticulatum var. recognitum, H. virgatum var. acutifolium |
Name authority | Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 164. (1797) | Lamarck: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 4: 158. (1796) |
Web links |