A shrubby hairless, branched herbaceous perennial plant with a woody
branched root produces many round stems which put out runners from the base.
The Plant has a pale brown stem, top branches and oblong stalkless leaves
that grow in pairs. On the perforated leaves are transparent spots (oil
glands), that look like holes, but on the unperforated varieties are
rust-colored spots and were believed by pious country folk to be the mark of
the blood of St. John the Baptist. Also, the sap of the plant is reddish
colored and represents the blood of St. John the Baptist. Flat topped cymes
of yellow flowers, whose petals are dotted with black along the margins,
appear from June to September. Each flower has five yellow petals with black
dots on the margins and many yellow stamens. The fruit is a three celled
capsule containing small, dark brown seeds. The whole plant has a
turpentine-like odor. The flowers appear in late summer and are bright
yellow. Plant grows 1-3 feet tall with delicate 0.6 to
1.2 inch bluish-green elliptical leaves. True St. John's Wort
has three extraordinary features that help identify it and virtually rule
out any possibility of mistaken identity: the stalk is two-edged, (extremely
rare in the plant kingdom). Hold the leaves up to light and you can see the
oil glands or transparent dots. The golden-yellow flowers turn dark red if
rubbed between your fingers. There is no objection to collecting the seeds
of plants growing in the wild.
Other varieties: Hypericum frodosum is a small deciduous shrub
with similar flowers, also called St. John's Wort; the Chinese
herb (Hypericum chinense), also called St. John's Wort, is used
as an ornamental plant and should not be confused with (H. perforatum).
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St. John's Wort
