Hypericum montanum L.

Perennial herb 0.2-0.8 m tall, wholly erect or decumbent to ascending but not rooting at base, with woody taproot, few-stemmed, usually unbranched below inflorescence, wholly glabrous often except leaves beneath. Stems green to reddish, terete; internodes all or upper exceeding leaves. Leaves sessile; lamina (20-)25-70 x (10-)13-28 mm, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate or broadly ovate, paler beneath, thinly chartaceous, not glaucous, wholly glabrous or usually scabrid to puberulous beneath, plane, spreading; apex obtuse to rounded or uppermost subacute, margin entire, base rounded to truncate or subcordate; venation: 3-4 pairs of laterals curved-ascending from lower 0.2-0.25 of midrib; tertiary reticulation dense, not or slightly prominent; laminar glands pale, dense, unequal, not prominent, rarely absent ('var. caucasicum'); intramarginal glands black, dense but irregular, the larger often submarginal. Inflorescence 7-32(-c. 50)-flowered from up to 3(4) nodes, without flowering branches from lower nodes, curved-pyramidal or corymbiform to subcapitate and dense, or lower node(s) distant with dense partial inflorescences, the whole then narrowly pyramidal to narrowly cylindric; pedicels 1.5-4 mm; bracts and bracteoles linear, black- glandular-ciliate, densely glandular-auriculate. Flowers 10-15(-20) mm in diam.; buds narrowly ellipsoid to cylindric, rounded. Sepals 5-6 x 1-1.5 mm, subequal or equal, free or very shortly united, narrowly oblong to narrowly lanceolate, acute, with margin rather long-glandular-ciliate; veins 5, laterals branching; laminar glands pale, linear to striiform; marginal glands black, flat-topped. Petals pale yellow, not tinged red, (8-)10- 12 x 2-3.5 mm, c. 2 x sepals, oblong-lanceolate, rounded, apiculus absent; laminar glands pale, few, elongate-punctiform or usually absent; marginal glands absent. Stamens 20-28, longest 6-9 mm, c. 0.75 x petals; anther gland black. Ovary 2.5-3.5 x 1.5-2.5 mm, narrowly to rather broadly ovoid; styles 3-4 mm, 1.2-1.35 x ovary, spreading. Capsule 6-8 x 4-6 mm, ovoid, exceeding sepals, enclosed when developing by petals twisting together. Seeds dark red-brown, 0.8 mm long; testa linear-reticulate.