Hypericum tenuifolium
Hypericum scouleri
Atlantic St. John's-wort
Norton's St. John's-wort, Scouler's St. John's-wort, western john's-wort, western St. John's-wort
internodes 6-lined at first, becoming 4-lined, then terete.
internodes usually weakly 2-lined, sometimes not lined, without black glands, rarely with reddish glands.
blades linear-subulate, 4–11 × 0.4–0.8 mm, base articulated, persistent, parallel or slightly expanded, margins revolute, apex rounded with ± prominent hydathode to long-acuminate, midrib unbranched.
usually spreading, rarely erect, sessile or (proximal) subpetiolate;
blade oblong-elliptic or elliptic to triangular-ovate or (proximal) obovate, 12–28(–32) × 6–15(–18) mm, base subcordate to rounded or (proximal) cuneate, margins plane, apex obtuse to rounded, midrib with 4–5 pairs of branches, tertiary veins not densely reticulate, black glands intramarginal (± dense) and, rarely, (1–2) laminar (distal).
± narrowly cylindric, 1–7-flowered, with 1(–3)-flowered dichasia from to 4 proximal nodes, rarely with 1 pair of flowering branches;
flowers sessile or nearly so.
cylindric to narrowly pyramidal, (1–)8–20-flowered.
10–14 mm diam.;
sepals deciduous, not enclosing capsule, 5, linear-subulate, unequal, 2–4 × 0.4–0.5 mm;
petals 5, bright yellow, oblanceolate-oblong to obovate, 5–10 mm;
stamens deciduous, 50–90;
ovary 3-merous.
6–15(–25) mm diam.;
sepals not or scarcely imbricate, erect in fruit, ovate to lanceolate or narrowly oblong, unequal to subequal, 2.5–5.5 × 1–2 mm, apex acute to rounded;
petals golden yellow, sometimes red-tinged, oblanceolate, 7–12 mm;
stamens 50–90(–109);
anther gland black;
styles 2–8 mm.
narrowly (sub-)cylindric, (4–)5.7–9.5 × 1.5–2 mm.
oblanceoloid, 6–10 × 3.5–6 mm, with longitudinal vittae.
scarcely carinate, 0.5 mm;
testa coarsely reticulate.
not carinate, (0.5–)0.7–0.8 mm;
testa linear-reticulate.
= 18.
= 16.
Hypericum tenuifolium
Hypericum scouleri
Hypericum tenuifolium differs from H. galioides in habit, leaf size, and inflorescence, and in its drier habitat. Its nonrooting stems, longer leaves, and (usually) longer stems distinguish it from H. lloydii.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Some authors have included Hypericum scouleri in central Mexican H. formosum Kunth as a synonym, subspecies, or variety; the similarities in sepal form and glandularity between these species are due to convergence. Hypericum formosum is related to another Mexican species (H. oaxacanum R. Keller); the affinities of H. scouleri are with the H. attenuatum group from eastern Asia. Hypericum scouleri itself does occur in northern and central Mexico as far south as Michoacán, México, and Hidalgo, where it is known by the synonym H. simulans Rose.
J. M. Gillett and N. K. B. Robson (1981) treated the dwarf alpine form of Hypericum scouleri as subsp. nortoniae. Further work has revealed a range of intermediate forms between the two putative subspecies, which prevents their recognition. Likewise, the differentiation of a southern population (H. formosum subsp. formosum in the sense of C. L. Hitchcock) from a northern one [H. formosum subsp. scouleri (Hooker) C. L. Hitchcock] based on the broader, blunter, and less-glandular sepals in the latter, does not appear warranted.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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