Read About the St. John's-Wort Family
ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY (Hypericaceae)
Common St. John's-wort Hypericum perforatum Flowers--Bright
yellow, 1 in. across or less, several or many in terminal clusters. Calyx of
5 lance-shaped sepals; 5 petals dotted with black; numerous stamens in 3
sets; 3 styles. Stem: 1 to 2 ft. high, erect, much branched.
Leaves: Small, opposite, oblong, more or less black-dotted. Preferred
Habitat--Fields, waste lands, roadsides. Flowering Season--June-September.
Distribution--Throughout our area, except the extreme North; Europe
and Asia. "Gathered upon a Friday, in the hour of Jupiter when he comes to
his operation, so gathered, or borne, or hung upon the neck, it mightily
helps to drive away all phantastical spirits." These are the blossoms which
have been hung in the windows of European peasants for ages on St. John's
eve, to avert the evil eye and the spells of the spirits of darkness. "Devil
chaser" its Italian name signifies. To cure demoniacs, to ward off
destruction by lightning, to reveal the presence of witches, and to expose
their nefarious practices, are some of the virtues ascribed to this plant,
which superstitious farmers have spared from the scythe and encouraged to
grow near their houses until it has become, even in this land of liberty, a
troublesome weed at times. "The flower gets its name," says F. Schuyler
Mathews, "from the superstition that on St. John's day, the 24th of June,
the dew which fell on the plant the evening before was efficacious in
preserving the eyes from disease. So the plant was collected, dipped in oil,
and thus transformed into a balm for every wound." Here it is a naturalized
immigrant, not a native. A blooming plant, usually with many sterile shoots
about its base, has an unkempt, untidy look; the seed capsules and the brown
petals of withered flowers remaining among the bright yellow buds through a
long season.
The Shrubby St. John's-wort (H. prolificum) bears yellow blossoms,
about half an inch across, which are provided with stamens so numerous, the
many flowered terminal clusters have a soft, feathery effect. In the axils
of the oblong, opposite leaves are tufts of smaller ones, the stout stems
being often concealed under a wealth of foliage. Sandy or rocky places from
New Jersey southward best suit this low, dense, diffusely branched shrub
which blooms prolifically from July to September.
Farther north, and westward to Iowa, the Great or Giant St. John's-wort (H.
Ascyron) brightens the banks of streams at midsummer with large
blossoms, each on a long footstalk in a few-flowered cluster.
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