[*][*] Petals equal, imbricate, purplish; glands alternating with the 3 stamen-clusters.
3. Elodes. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens usually 9. Ovary 3-celled.
1. ÁSCYRUM, L. St. Peter's-wort.
Sepals 4; the two outer very broad and leaf-like; the inner much smaller. Petals 4, oblique, very deciduous, convolute in the bud. Stamens numerous; the filaments distinct and scarcely in clusters. Pod strictly 1-celled, 2–4-valved.—Low, rather shrubby, smooth plants, with pale black-dotted leaves, and nearly solitary light yellow flowers. (An ancient Greek name of some plant, from α-, without, and σκύρος, roughness.)
1. A. stáns, Michx. (St. Peter's-wort.) Stem rather simple, 2-edged, 1–2° high, stout; leaves oval or oblong, somewhat clasping, thickish; flowers showy; outer sepals round-cordate, inner lanceolate; petals obovate; styles 3 or 4.—Pine barrens, Long Island to Penn., and southward. July, Aug.
2. A. Crux-Ándreæ, L. (St. Andrew's Cross.) Low, much branched and decumbent; leaves narrowly obovate-oblong, contracted at the base, thin; petals linear-oblong; styles 2, very short; pod flat.—Nantucket; pine barrens of N. J. to S. Ill., Neb., and southward. July–Sept.—Petals scarcely exceeding the outer sepals, approaching each other in pairs over them, in the form of a St. Andrew's cross.
2. HYPÉRICUM, Tourn. St. John's-wort.
Sepals 5, somewhat equal. Petals 5, oblique, convolute in the bud. Stamens commonly united or clustered in 3–5 parcels; no interposed glands. Pod 1-celled or 3–5-celled. Seeds usually cylindrical.—Herbs or shrubs, with cymose yellow flowers. (An ancient Greek name, of obscure meaning.)
§ 1. Stamens very numerous, 5-adelphous; styles 5, united below, the stigmas capitate; pod 5-celled, the placentæ turned far back into the cells; perennial herb; flowers very large.
1. H. Áscyron, L. (Great St. John's-wort.) Stems 2–5° high; branches 2–4-angled; leaves (2–5´ long) ovate-oblong, partly clasping; petals narrowly obovate (1´ long), not deciduous until after they wither; pod ¾´ long, conical. (H. pyramidatum, Ait.)—Banks of rivers, New Eng. and Penn. to Iowa and Minn. July.