ID Guide - St John's Wort

    The St John's Wort (Hypericum) family are attractive, yellow-flowered perennials. They can look confusingly similar but can be distinguished by careful examination of key features. A hand-lens may be required (depending how good your eyesight is!).

    Species Stems Downy Flower dots Leaf dots Leaf perf
    Perforate  2 ridges   yes yes yes
    Trailing 2 ridges   yes yes yes
    Slender no ridges   yes no yes
    Hairy no ridges downy stems and leaves yes no yes
    Pale (no recent VC55 records) no ridges downy leaves (undersides) yes yes no
    Marsh (not recorded in VC55) no ridges downy stems and leaves no no yes
    Imperforate

    square

    unwinged

    		   yes yes no
    Square-stalked

    square

    winged

    		   sometimes yes yes

    The leaf perforations are visible as translucent dots if the leaf is held up to the light.