Taxonomy
Family: Hypericaceae
Habitat
Dry, rocky slopes, sandy pine barrens, moist rich woods.
Associates
Distribution
Long Island and NJ to VA, NC, and northern GA, west to southern OH, southeast KS, eastern OK, and eastern TX.
Morphology
Low mat-forming or mounding shrub to 40+ cm wide; stems prostrate, giving rise to numerous erect branches mostly 10-30 cm; leaves mostly uniform in size and shape, typically oblanceolate and broadest above the middle, firm, articulate at the base, obtuse or rounded above, 1-2 cm; bracteoles subulate, borne within 1 mm of the calyx; two outer sepals mostly 6-11 mm long, rounded at the base, obscurely 3-5-nerved, the inner two much smaller or obsolete; petals 4, yellow, narrowly oblong-elliptic, 8-11 mm; stamens numerous with filaments distinct or weakly connate at the base; styles 2, very short; fruit unilocular.
Notes
Flowers July to August
Wetland indicator: NA
Sometimes included as a variety of H. hypericoides (L.) Crantz which is a similar but taller shrub mostly 0.5-1.2 m.
References
Gleason, Henry A.
and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Michael Hough © 2018 |