Hypericum cardonae Cuatrec.

Shrub or shrublet 0.2-1 m tall, erect or rarely decumbent and rooting at the base, with branches strict, pseudo-dichotomous or lateral. Stems yellow-brown to orange-brown, 4-lined and ancipitous when young, the subfoliar ridges broad, soon terete, cortex exfoliating in strips; internodes 3-7 mm long. Leaves with petiole 1-2.5 mm long. persistently imbricate-tetrastichous to widely spreading from above petiole, deciduous above petiole without fading; lamina 7-15 x 2.5-7 mm, broadly to narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong, plane to incurved or subconduplicate, not cucullate, midrib not or slightly prominent beneath, margin plane to incrassate, concolorous, often glaucous to blue-green, coriaceous; apex acute to subrounded, base angustate to cuneate, the petioles not sheathing but united to form narrow interfoliar ridge; basal vein 1, with (l-)2-3 pairs of ascending lateral branches (often obscure), rarely visibly branching, not impressed beneath, tertiary reticulation not visible; laminar glands dense, visible beneath or not. Inflorescence 1-flowered, sometimes with several flowering branches clustered, with pseudo-dichotomous branches from one or two nodes below; pedicel 4-6 mm long, not incrassate distally; upper leaves not transitional. Flowers 12-18 mm in diam., stellate or obconic. Sepals 6-12 x 2-4 mm, broadly to narrowly elliptic or oblong-elliptic to oblong-spathulate, acute to subacute; veins 5-7, sometimes branched distally, with midrib not or slightly prominent; glands mostly linear, distally punctiform. Petals bright yellow to orange-yellow, 8-11 x 3-6 mm, c. 1.3 x sepals, oblanceolate to obovate; apiculus acute; glands mostly linear, distally punctiform. Stamens 40-60, longest 4-7 mm long, c. 0.5 x petals. Ovary 2.5-3 x 1.5-2 mm, ovoid-ellipsoid to ellipsoid-subglobose; styles 3, 3-5 mm long, 1-1.6 x ovary, divergent to suberect; stigmas broadly capitate. Capsule 4-8 x 2-4 mm, cylindric-ellipsoid, equalling or shorter than sepals. Seeds 1-1.2 mm long, ecarinate; testa finely scalariform.