Perforated Saint John's Wort - Hypericum perforatum

Scientific Name: Hypericum perforatum (Clusiaceae).


English Name: Perforated Saint John's Wort (Saint John's Wort family). (Note that 'wort' rhymes with 'pert', not 'wart'.

French Name: Le Millepertuis commun (='common thousand perforations'); le Millepertuis perforé (='perforated thousand perforations'); l'Herbe à mille trous (='the herbaceous plant of a thousand holes').
 

5 Key Characters:

• round stems with a pair of ridges which run opposite one another up the stem.
• leaves covered in many tiny translucent dots (hold them up to the light and they are easy to see with the naked eye).
• golden yellow flowers with tiny black dots along the edges of the petals.
• glabrous (smooth, not hairy).
  

Lookalikes: Other Hypericum spp, which do not have quite the same combination of characters (some have square stems, some do not have the translucent dots on the leaves, some are hairy).


Habitat: Scrub, hedgerows, roadsides, grassland, especially on chalk or sand.


Flowering Period: June-July-August-September.


Status: Very common.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature: