This section is from the book "Harper's Guide To Wild Flowers", by Caroline A. Creevey. Also available from Amazon: Harper's Guide To Wild Flowers.
Family, St. John's - wort. Color, yellow. Sepals, 4, the 2 outer much broader than the inner, leaf-like. Petals, 4, open, spreading. Stamens, many. Styles, 3 or 4. Fruit, a pod, 1 - celled, but splitting into 2 to 4 pieces. Flowers, single, or few in a terminal cyme. Leaves, opposite, oval, growing erect, black-dotted, clasping or sessile. Stem, erect, 1 or
2 feet high, flattish, smooth, and leafy. July and August.
Pine barrens of Long Island to Pennsylvania and southward.
 
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