Arranged the hypericums in bottles this morning and watched their opening. The pod of the ellipticum, when cut, smells like a bee.

Pale St. John's-wort
Hypericum ellipticum

July 26.  

Saturday. 5 a.m. — Up Assabet. 

The sun's disk is seen round and red for a long distance above the horizon, through the thick but cloudless atmosphere, threatening heat, — hot, dry weather. 

At five the lilies had not opened, but began about 5.15 and were abundantly out at six. 

Arranged the hypericums in bottles this morning and watched their opening. 

The H. angulosum (?) has a pod one-celled (with three parietal placentae), conical, oblong, acute, at length longer than the sepals, purple. (The Canadense has from three to five (!) placentae and the mutilum three to four (!), as I find, notwithstanding Gray.) Styles three, short, distinct, and spreading; stamens twenty, more or less, obscurely clustered. Petals oblong. (Do not see the single lateral tooth mentioned by Eaton.) Corolla twelve to fourteen fortieths of an inch in diameter.

It is strict, slender, ten to twenty inches high; stem sharply four-angled, like Canadense, and cyme as naked or more so. The large ones make a singularly compact (flat-topped) corymb, of many narrow pods at last. Leaves oblong-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, commonly blunt, but often gradually tapering and acute, broadest near the base and clasping, one to one and a half inches long by one eighth to three eighths wide, black-dotted beneath. Ground neither very dry nor very moist. 

It differs from Canadense, which it resembles, in being a larger plant every way, narrower in proportion to height, having more stamens, and in the form of its leaves.

Corolla of mutilum nine to eleven fortieths of an inch in diameter; Canadense, twelve to thirteen fortieths; corymbosum eighteen fortieths.

The corymbosum in chamber shut up at night. All but Sarothra, which may not be advanced enough, (I have no elodea), opened by 5 a. m., corymbosum and angulosum very fairly; but mutilum, Canadense, and angulosum curled and shut up by 9 a. m. !! 

The corymbosum shut up in afternoon. The perforatum and ellipticum alone were open all day. The four lesser ones are very shy to open and remain open very little while, this weather at least. I suspect that in the fields, also, they are open only very early or on cloudy days. 
H. Canadense and mutilum are often fifteen inches high. 

The largest and most conspicuous purple pods are those of the ellipticum. Those of the angulosum and Canadense are smaller and more pointed; are also purple, and the mutilum perhaps duller purple and less conspicuous. 

The pod of the ellipticum, when cut, smells like a bee. The united styles arm it like a beak or spine. This appears to be the most nearly out of bloom of all. I am surprised that Gray says it is somewhat four-angled. It is distinctly two-angled and round between. 

The Hubbard aster may be the A. Tradescanti. 

The large potamogeton off Dodd's seems to be the natans, from size of nutlets, etc. Then there is the second, off Clamshell, a long time out. And the third, heterophyllus (?), or what I have called hybridus, also long out. 

Drank up the last of my birch wine. It is an exceedingly grateful drink now, especially the aromatic, mead like, apparently checkerberry-flavored one, which on the whole I think must be the black birch. It is a surprisingly high-flavored drink, thus easily obtained, and considering that it had so little taste at first. Perhaps it would have continued to improve.

P. M. — To Poorhouse Pasture. 

Nettle, some time. Ambrosia botrys, apparently a few days. A. Radula, ditch by pasture, several days apparently. Lycopus sinuatus, some time. 

I see young larks fly pretty well before me. 

Smaller bur-reed (Sparganium Americanum), judging from form of stigma (ovate and oblique), yet the leaves are almost entirely concave (!), Stow's ditch. Is this the same with that in river? How long? 

It is very still and sultry this afternoon, at 6 p. m. even. I cannot even sit down in the pasture for want of air, but must keep up and moving, else I should suffocate. Thermometer ninety-seven and ninety-eight to-day. The pig pants and melts in his pen, and water must be cast on him.

Agassiz says he has discovered that the haddock, a deep-sea fish, is viviparous.

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, July 26, 1856

Arranged the hypericums in bottles this morning. See July 25, 1856 ("Up river to see hypericums out.") See also A Book of the Seasons,  by Henry Thoreau, St. Johns-wort (Hypericum)

The pod of the ellipticum, when cut, smells like a bee. See August 19, 1856 ("The small hypericums have a peculiar smart, somewhat lemon-like fragrance, but bee-like."); August 30, 1856 ("Bruised, [sarothra] has the fragrance of sorrel and lemon, rather pungent or stinging, like a bee."); See also June 13, 1858 ("The ledum . . . has a rather agreeable fragrance, between turpentine and strawberries. It is rather strong and penetrating, and some times reminds me of the peculiar scent of a bee. The young leaves, bruised and touched to the nose, even make it smart"); October 16, 1859 (“The ledum smells like a bee, — that peculiar scent they have. C, too, perceives it.”) and also June 21, 1852 ("The adder's-tongue arethusa smells exactly like a snake.")

July 26. See A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, July 26

From GoBotany: 

Family

Hypericaceae (st. john’s-wort family)

The latin name Hypericum derives from ancient Greek hyper, meaning 'above' and eikon meaning 'picture'. This refers to the traditional practice of placing flowers above an image in the house to ward off evil spirits at the midsummer festival that later became the Feast of St. John, thus the common name.

This Genus’s Species in New England:

• Hypericum adpressum
• Hypericum ascyron
• Hypericum boreale
• Hypericum canadense
• Hypericum densiflorum
• Hypericum dolabriforme
• Hypericum ellipticum
• Hypericum frondosum
• Hypericum gentianoides
• Hypericum majus
• Hypericum mutilum
• Hypericum perforatum
• Hypericum prolificum
• Hypericum punctatum
• Hypericum stragulum

A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau

"A book, each page written in its own season,

out-of-doors, in its own locality."

~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2021