St. John's Wort
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St. John's Wort

Hypericum perforatum

Plant Family

Hypericaceae – St. John’s Wort family

Other Names

none

Parts Used

flowering top

Uses

Promotes positive mood & healthy emotional balance.*

Prominent Phytochemicals

Prominent Constituents as Reported in Scientific Literature: Flavonoids, anthraquinones, carotenoids, proanthocyanidins, naphthodianthrones (hypericin and pseudohypericin), phloroglucinol derivatives (hyperforin), xanthone derivatives, tannins, volatile oils.5,6

Did you know?

A fun pastime for children, and also for species identification, is to hold the plant up to the sun to see the oil glands dotting the plant.9

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Botanical Description

St. John’s Wort is an herbaceous perennial that grows up to approximately 3 feet (1 meter) high and 2 feet (0.6 meters) wide.4 Its upright stems are rounded with numerous opposite stems branching on the top portion of the plant.4 Leaves of this plant are sessile, oblong and ovate or elliptical-shaped with an entire margin and oppositely positioned.4,8 The exterior margin is dotted with reddish-brown to black oil glands, while the interior of the leaf has visible yellowish translucent glandular dotting.4,6 The paniculate, showy flowers have five oblong to elliptical-shaped yellow petals, also having visible oil glands, with numerous stamen and five sepals.4,8,9 Fruits are capsules with three chambers and three persistent styles.8 The miniscule seeds are brown to black, numerous and cylindrically shaped.4,9 Roots are rhizomes that spread by underground stem runners.3


Origins & History

St. John’s Wort is native to all continents except Antarctica and North America, where it has been naturalized since settlers brought it in 1696.4,8 The plant is hardy in US zones 3 to 7 and prefers a habitat of open forest, copses, grasslands, roadsides, meadows and borders.3,7,9 It grows in moist soil with no shade to semi-shaded woodlands, although it flowers best in the sun.3 This aromatic plant is pollinated by bees and flies, while attracting many insects.3,4

 

It is a common weed and is considered invasive due to its prolific self-seeding, which can yield up to 100,000 seeds per year and last in the soil for up to 10 years.3,8 As a noxious weed, it is prohibited from planting without a permit in California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.3,8  A similar looking but different species is often used in landscaping. H. calycinum has larger features and is more of a creeping shrub.

 

Herbalists use the tops while in flower, which bloom from May to August.3,4 The herb is often harvested around the solstice and midsummer holiday, St. John’s Day on June 24, a day that is commemorated by the Freemans to celebrate John the Baptist.9 The seeds ripen in July to September.3

 

Hypericum perforatum is used in Native American herbalism by the Cherokee, Iroquois and Montagnais tribes.2 Other species are used in herbalism by the Menominee, Meskwaki, Paiute, Shoshoni, Natchez, Seminole, Choctaw, Alabama, Houma and Koasati tribes.2 The Miwok tribe uses it and other species in herbalism and for food.2

 

St. John’s Wort is one of the best-known herbs today; however, it fell out of favor in the 19th century.3 In olden times, it was mostly used externally in poultices and oil infusions.3

 

Dyes of brown, gold and yellow can be made from the leaves and flowers.3

 

When the plant is infused in in water, the extract is yellow.3 When infused in oil, it imparts a reddish-brown color from the extraction of the hypericin-containing oil glands in the flowers and leaves.3,6 In some people, contact with the fresh sap exuded from the oil glands on the skin can cause photosensitivity.3

 

A fun pastime for children, and also for species identification, is to hold the plant up to the sun to see the oil glands dotting the plant.9 These visible glands look to be perforations, and are the basis for the species name, perforatum.6 The genus name, Hypericum, is derived from the Greek hyper (above) and eikon (image, picture). The flowers were hung above pictures or windows, as it was thought that the obnoxious scent would ward off evil spirits to fly away.8,9 Nicholas Culpeper wrote that St. John’s Wort is planetarily under the dominion of the Sun and the celestial sign of Leo.7

References

  1. McGuffin M, Kartesz J. American Herbal Products Association’s Herbs of Commerce, 2nd ed. Silver Springs, MD: Publication of the American Herbal Products Association; 2000.
  2. Native American Ethnobotany DB. 2003-2018. Native American Ethnobotany Database: Hypericum. (NAEB, Accessed 22 October 2020). Dearborn, MI 48198 USA.
  3. Plants for a Future. 1996-2012. Plants for a Future Database: Hypericum perforatum (Plants For A Future, Accessed 22 October 2020). Devon EX7 9LX England.
  4. World Health Organization. WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants, Vol. 2: Herba Hyperici. World Health Organization. 2002. Geneva, Switzerland.
  5. Skenderi G. Herbal Vade Mecum. Rutherford, NJ: Herbacy Press; 2003
  6. Thorne Research, Inc. Monograph: Hypericum perforatum. Alternative Medicine Review. 2004: Vol. 9, No. 3: 318-325.
  7. Culpeper N. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician. London, England: Richard Evans Publishing; 1814.
  8. Missouri Botanical Garden. PlantFinder Database: Hypericum perforatum (MBG, Accessed 22 October 2020). St. Louis, MO.
  9. Grieve M. A Modern Herbal, Vol. 2, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Dover Publications; 1982.

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