Hypericum fuertesii (Nomenclature)
Shrublet or wiry perennial herb 0.09-0.2 m tall and sometimes prostrate and to c. 0.4 m long, with taproot, erect or decumbent and rooting, sometimes mat-forming; branches from below inflorescence and sometimes lateral, strict or very rarely divaricate. Stems reddish-brown, 4-lined, ancipitous and densely gland-dotted when young, eventually terete, cortex exfoliating in strips; internodes1-5 mm long. Leaves sessile, appressed to spreading, longer to shorter than internodes, persistent; lamina 0.5-5 x 0.3-1.2 mm, linear to very narrowly oblong, margin plane to incurved, entire, sometimes cucullate, midrib prominent but not scabrid beneath, concolorous, not glaucous, subcoriaceous; apex acute, base parallel-sided, free; basal vein 1, unbranched; laminar glands dense, sometimes prominent beneath. Inflorescence 1-flowered, branching pseudo-dichotomous, also sometimes from lateral branches; peduncle 2-4.5 mm long, not incrassate upwards; bracts foliar. Flowers 5-10 mm in diam., infundibular. Sepals 2-3(-4) x 0.7-0.9 mm, unequal, narrowly oblong or narrowly elliptic-oblong to lanceolate, acute; veins 3-5, unbranched, becoming prominent; glands linear, distally striiform to punctiform. Petals bright yellow to orange, tinged red outside in bud, 4.5-5 x 1.5-2 mm, c. 1.5-2 x sepals, oblong- oblanceolate; apiculus acute; glands striiform to punctiform. Stamens 10-15, longest 3.5-4.5 mm long, c. 0.8 x petals, in 5 distinct fascicles. Ovary 1-1.5 x 0.5-1 mm, narrowly ovoid-ellipsoid, trigonous; styles 3, 2.5-3 mm long, c. 2 x ovary, very slender, spreading; stigmas broadly capitate to peltate. Capsule 3-5 x 1.8-2.5 mm, narrowly cylindric to narrowly ellipsoid, acute, exceeding sepals. Seeds 0.5-0.6 mm long, ecarinate; testa finely scalariform.
Exposed grassy slopes and open Pinus forest, often in wet areas; (600-) 1200-3000 m.
Dominican Republic (La Vega, Benefactor [San Juan], Santiago), Haiti (Ouest, Sud).
H. fuertesii is most closely related (outside Hispaniola) to H. arbuscula from Guatemala, from which it differs by the smaller size of all parts, the decumbent rooting stems, and the occasional presence of lateral branches. Urban described it as an annual or perennial herb, but it is usually somewhat shrubby.