Hypericum ellipticum Hook. Pale St. John’s-wort
Pale St. John’s-wort is native to eastern North America. It appears in high elevations, in wet meadows and stream banks. Plants: 8-20″ (20-50 cm) tall. Stems are hairless, somewhat 4-angled. Leaves: ⅜-1½″ (1-4 cm) × ⅛-¾″ (3-20 mm), and elliptical-oblong in shape, generally rounded at leaf tips, and attached directly to the stem (sessile). Flowers: Yellow, in clusters of 1 to a few at stem and branch tips. Each flower is ⅜-½″ (1-1.4 cm) around, with 5 yellow petals and 5 pale green sepals, a fountain of yellow stamens, and three styles fused into one in the center. (Rarely, the number of sepals and petals may be 4 or 6.) There are in excess of 100 stamens. Flowers appear from July to August. Fruits: Capsules are ⅛-3/16″ (4-6 mm) × ⅛-3/16″ (3.5-5 mm), ellipsoid, and rounded to a tip. Below is a comparison of some species of St. John’s wort: |
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You are here Hypericum ellipticum |
Hypericum mutilum |
Hypericum perforatum |
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Common Name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Plant | 8-20″ (20-50 cm) tall. Stems are hairless, somewhat 4-angled.< | 4-18″ (10-45 cm) tall, sometimes up to 2½′ (79 cm), heavily branched, with a shrublike habit. Branches may be 4-angled or smooth, tapering, and sometimes winged. | Less than 3′ (91 cm) in height. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Flowers | Yellow, in clusters of 1 to a few at stem and branch tips. Each flower is ⅜-½″ (1-1.4 cm) around, with 5 yellow petals and 5 pale green sepals, a fountain of yellow stamens, and three styles fused into one in the center. (Rarely, the number of sepals and petals may be 4 or 6.) There are in excess of 100 stamens. Flowers appear from July to August. | ¼″ (6.3 mm) in size, yellow or yellow-orange, with five petals and 5-15 stamens. Beneath the petals of each flower there are somtimes green bracts that are narrower but roughly the same length, one for each petal. Blooms from July to October. | Bright yellow, star-shaped, with five petals and many yellow stamens about the length of the petals. Petals have serrated edges and small black dots on the serrations. Flowers are up to ⅞″ (2.5 cm) across. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leaves | ⅜-1½″ (1-4 cm) × ⅛-¾″ (3-20 mm), and elliptical-oblong in shape, generally rounded at leaf tips, and attached directly to the stem (sessile). | Roughly oval in shape, and attached directly to the stem (sessile). They are opposite, unlobed, ½-1½″ (1.3-3.8 cm) long and ¼-¾″ (6.3-19 mm) across. | Oval, about ⅜″ (1.2 cm) long, with smooth edges, occurring in opposing pairs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fruit | Capsules are ⅛-3/16″ (4-6 mm) × ⅛-3/16″ (3.5-5 mm), ellipsoid, and rounded to a tip. | 1/16-⅛″ (2-3.5 mm) in length. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Range/ Zones | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitats | Sandy forest floodplains, sandy swamps, moist to wed sandy prairies; damp, sandy, acidic areas in general | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | Wild | Wild | Wild | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occurrence | Common, sometimes invasive |
Online References:
The University of Michigan Herbarium
References:
Hypericum ellipticum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 16 Sep 2020.
Range: