Hypericum wilsonii (Nomenclature)
Shrub 0.5-1 m tall, spreading, with branches pendulous to somewhat prostrate. Stems red, 4-lined when young, becoming 2-lined, eventually terete; internodes 10-45 mm long, shorter than to equalling leaves; bark grey-brown.. Leaves petiolate, with petiole 0.5-1.5 mm long, shorter than to equalling leaves; lamina 23-55(-60) x (6-)12-29 mm, elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate to lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, subacute or apiculate-obtuse to rounded, margin plane, base broadly cuneate to rounded, paler or ± glaucous beneath, chartaceous; venation: 4-5 pairs main laterals, with midrib obscurely branched distally, with scarcely visible tertiary reticulum; laminar glands dots and short to longish streaks, ventral glands sparse or absent. Inflorescence
(1-)3-c. 22-flowered, from 1(2) node(s), subcorymbiform; pedicels 8-12 mm long; bracts foliar to narrowly lanceolate, deciduous? Flowers 40-50(-60) mm in diam., stellate; buds narrowly ovoid, acute to subacuminate. Sepals 7-10 x 2-4.5 mm, free, imbricate, equal, ± erect in bud and fruit, lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, acutely acuminate to shortly aristate, with margin entire; midrib conspicuous, veins not prominent; laminar glands linear, c. 10. Petals golden yellow, not tinged red, spreading, 20-25 x 12-20 mm, 2.5-3 x sepals, obovate, with apiculus subterminal, acute, margin minutely glandular-denticulate towards apex or entire. Stamen fascicles each with 30-35 stamens, longest 10-15 mm long, 0.35-0.5 x petals; anthers golden yellow. Ovary 5-6 x 3-3.5 mm, ± broadly ovoid; styles 7-9 mm long, c. 1.5-1.8 x ovary, free, erect, outcurved at apex; stigmas small. Capsule 7-11 x 5-6 mm, ovoid. Seeds dark orange-brown, narrowly cylindric, scarcely carinate, ± shallowly reticulate
Cliffs and thickets; (600?)1000-1750 m.
China (W. Hubei, E. Sichuan and possibly Jiangsu; also recorded from Hunan).
In H. wilsonii the spreading habit of H. kouytchense is more pronounced, so that its stems frequently trail over the ground, and it has (i) shorter stamens and (ii) a smaller ovary, so that the styles are relatively longer. The typical specimens that I have seen are restricted to a small region in the Yangtzse valley near the Hubei-Sichuan border; but Li (ined.) records it from Hunan.
All the cultivated material of H. wilsonii would appear to have originated from Wilson 256 (see above). Anon. 5809, from Jiangsu? (Buyijao R. Area) has narrower petals, relatively loger styles, a subglobose ovary and oblong-elliptic discolorous leaves.