Tinker’s penny Tinker’s penny

Hypericum anagalloides var. calicifolium R. Keller; H. anagalloides var. cymosum R. Keller; H. anagalloides var. nevadense Greene; H. anagalloides var. pumilum R. Keller; H. anagalloides var. ramigerum R. Keller; H. anagalloides var. undulatum R. Keller; H. bryophytum Elmer; H. tapetoides A. Nelson

Herbs annual or perennial, decumbent to ascending, with diffusely branching and rooting base, forming loose mats, not usually branched distally, 0.3–1.5 dm. Stems: internodes 4-angled. Leaves spreading, sessile or subamplexicaul; blade ovate or orbiculate to elliptic or oblanceolate (proximal) or oblong (distal), 3–13 × 1.5–8.5 mm, papery to membranous, margins plane, apex rounded, basal veins 3–5(–7), <distally looped>, midrib unbranched. Inflorescences loosely corymbiform, 1–14-flowered, branching mostly dichasial. Flowers 3–5(–8) mm diam.; sepals usually narrowly elliptic-oblong to oblanceolate-spatulate, rarely obovate, unequal, 2–4 × 0.9–2 mm, <margins sometimes ciliate, not setulose-ciliate>, apex subacute to rounded; petals golden yellow to salmon-orange, oblanceolate, (1.7–)3.5–5 mm; stamens (5–)12–15(–25), separate or obscurely 3-fascicled; styles 0.5–2 mm; stigmas scarcely capitate. Capsules ellipsoid to cylindric or subglobose, 2.5–5 × 1.7–2.5 mm. Seeds 0.5–0.6 mm; testa linear-scalariform. 2n= 16.

Flowering spring–late summer (May–Sep). Bogs, ditches, lake and stream margins, meadows, other damp habitats; 50–2700 m; B.C.; Ariz., Calif., Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Utah, Wash.; Mexico (Baja California).

As reflected in the synonymy, Hypericum anagalloides is variable; none of the variations merits taxonomic recognition.