Hypericum rumeliacum (Nomenclature)
Perennial herb 0.06–0.3(–0.45) m tall, erect to procumbent, rarely rooting, with stems few to numerous, branched at base then unbranched below inflorescence. Stems narrowly (sometimes incompletely) 2-lined, with lines and occasionally infrafoliar region black-gland-dotted or not, sometimes glaucous; internodes (6–)10–27(–40) mm, shorter than or equalling leaves. Leaves sessile or rarely very shortly petiolate, not amplexicaul, erect to ascending; lamina 6–35 × 1–8(–11) mm, ovate-elliptic or sometimes narrowly oblong to lanceolate or linear (uppermost very rarely ovate-lanceolate), paler beneath, chartaceous; apex rounded to acute, margin ± recurved to revolute, entire or (upper) with black-glandular auricles and sometimes marginal black-glandular cilia (‘var. blepharophyllum’), base cuneate to rounded; venation: 2–3 pairs of main laterals from lower quarter to 2/5 of midrib, sometimes branched, without visible tertiary reticulation; laminar glands pale and/or black, scattered to sparse or absent; intramarginal glands black, ± spaced. Inflorescence 1–c. 22-flowered, from 1–2 nodes, without flowering branches below, the whole obconic to divaricate (in fruit); pedicels 1.5–8 mm; bracts and bracteoles reduced-foliar to linear, all or uppermost black-glandular-ciliate and -auriculate. Flowers (20–)25–35 mm in diam., stellate; buds broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, rounded. Sepals 5, equal or subequal, shortly united, 4–9 × 1.5–4 mm, narrowly oblong or oblong-lanceolate to broadly elliptic or ovate-elliptic, acute to obtuse, with glandular cilia alone or glandular fimbriae mixed with glandular cilia and long glandular denticles, these sometimes with sessile marginal glands; veins 3, branching, ± prominent; laminar glands black and sometimes one or two pale, shortly striiform to mostly punctiform; marginal glands black, on fimbriae, cilia and denticles. Petals 5, bright to golden yellow, sometimes tinged or veined red dorsally, 13–20 × 5–12 mm, broadly to narrowly oblanceolate to elliptic, rounded; laminar glands black, punctiform, scattered; marginal glands black, irregularly spaced, sessile or on short cilia. Stamens 60–70, longest 9–12 mm, 0.6–07 × petals. Ovary 2.5–4 × 1.5–2 mm, narrowly ovoid to ovoid-pyramidal; styles 5–9 mm, 1.7–3.3 × ovary. Capsule 7–12 × 4–7 mm, narrowly ovoid to pyramidal-ovoid; valves with round to shortly elongate amber vesicles scarcely or not prominent. Seeds tawny, 1.5 mm; testa ribbed-scalariform.
2n = 16, 14 (see subspecies).
Stony or rocky places or sometimes in grassland or woodland clearings, on granitic, serpentine or limestone substrates; (15–)100–2200 m.
Romania (Dolj), Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, north and central Greece, European Turkey (Edirne).
Hypericum rumeliacum is related to 8. H. rochelii but differs from it in having stems not or scarcely rooting, leaves narrower and/or shorter with base rounded to cuneate, sepals with conspicuous superficial black (not pale) gland dots and streaks, petals with black gland dots over the whole surface not distal, capsule valves with less prominent vesicles or almost smooth, and seeds tawny (mustard-yellow) not orange-brown. It has a distribution in general south-west of that of H. rochelii, though overlapping it. Hypericum apollinis was described as a distinct species and it is usually easily distinguishable from H. rumeliacum. But intermediates occur in Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania, and these taxa are therefore best treated as subspecies.
Strid & Robson (1986: 606) suggested that Hypericum barbatum var. adscendens Griseb. might be the result of introgression from H. barbatum.