Hypericum hircinum subsp. hircinum (Nomenclature)
Plantc.lm tall, with stems erect. Leaves 25-45 x 12-27 mm, ± broadly ovate, obtuse to rounded, margin plane, base truncate to rounded, rarely goat-scented. Flowers 25-40 mm in diam. Petals 15-18 mm long. Styles 14-20 mm long. Capsule (6-)8-9 x 4-6 mm.
Sardinia, Corsica.
H. hircinum subsp. hircinum was obviously well known to 18th century botanists and gardeners, but it seems to be due merely to chance that Linnaeus was more familiar with it than with the more widespread subsp. majus. Although it is quite distinct from subsp. majus in Corsica, the differences in Sardinia are not always so clear. (For a discussion of this subspecies in Sardinia, see Arrigoni (1991). In gardens, P.W. Watson's var. pumilum (which is clearly subsp. hircinum from his illustration) has been confused with var. minus Aiton (= subsp. cambessedesii) because Aiton's variety (q.v.) includes elements of both subspecies. The epithet minus, however, originated with Dillenius, Hort. Elthamensis: t. 151 f. 182 (1732); and his illustration is clearly of subsp. hircinum.