Hypericum psilophytum (Nomenclature)
Perennial herb 0.1-0.5 m tall, tufted, decumbent to ascending from woody taproot, branching at base, upper branches few or absent, stems spreading- to appressed-puberulous, leaves papilliform- puberulous, inflorescence glabrous or almost so. Stems becoming purplish red, 2-lined near inflorescence, otherwise terete, internodes shorter than to exceeding leaves. Leaves sessile; lamina 5-13 x 2.5-6 mm, narrowly oblong to oblanceolate, concolorous, chartaceous, not glaucous, plane, suberect; apex rounded, margin plane, entire, base rounded to subcordate-amplexicaul; venation: 2 pairs of laterals curved-ascending from lower 0.4 of midrib, tertiary reticulation obscure; laminar glands pale, rather dense, subequal, not prominent, with a few black, punctiform, scattered; intramarginal glands black, rather dense; marginal glands absent. Inflorescence 2-c. 25-flowered, from 1(2) nodes, curved-corymbose, monochasial after first flower or sometimes wholly monochasial, sometimes with 1-2 branches; pedicels 1.5-3 mm; bracteoles linear, black-glandular- ciliate. Flowers c. 15 mm in diam., stellate; buds ellipsoid- subglobose, subacute. Sepals 2-4 x 1-1.2 mm, lanceolate or elliptic to narrowly oblong, subequal, acute to shortly aristate, margin glandular-ciliate; veins 3, unbranched; laminar glands pale, shortly linear to punctiform, sometimes also black, punctiform; marginal glands black, sessile or on short cilia, apex glandular. Petals yellow, tinged red dorsally, 7-8 x c. 3 mm, 2 x sepals, oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic-oblong?, rounded, apiculus absent; laminar glands pale, striiform to punctiform; marginal glands black (?). Stamens c. 15-25, 3?-fascicled, longest 4-5 mm, c. 0.65 x petals; anther gland black. Ovary c. 2 x 1 mm, narrowly ovoid; styles 3, c. 2.5-3 mm, 1.25-1.5 x ovary, spreading (-incurved?). Capsule 3.5-4 x 2.5 mm, ovoid to ovoid-subglobose, 1.5-2 x sepals. Seeds not seen; testa striate (fide Ozenda).
2n=18 (Reynaud, 1986).
Damp margins of wadis; c. 800-2040 m.
Morocco (Grand Atlas, western Sahara), Algeria (Teffedest, Ahaggar, Tassili n'Ajjer).
H. psilophytum is most closely related to H. pubescens rather than to H. tomentosum, the relationship favoured by Maire (1933). In particular it is near the reduced forms of H. pubescens from the Anti- Atlas of Morocco. It is not far geographically, morphologically or ecologically from these to the Moroccan populations of H. psilophytum, which occur on the south-western parts of the Jebel Bani and Grand Atlas, next to the Sahara. H. psilophytum appears to be a good species, differing from H. pubescens in several characters including the shorter, mostly appressed indumentum, the smaller, sometimes glandular-ciliate sepals and the glabrous or slightly puberulous inflorescence. From the literature the (isolated) Algerian populations would seem to be more distinct than the Moroccan ones.