The leaves are usually oblong, with a tapering point, but do not rigorously conform to any model; with entire margins and a thin texture, which if held to the light is seen to be perforated by tiny punctures. The color is a full green, and they are set on the stalk in pairs, the pairs being placed at right angles to each other.
The flower is sometimes ¾ of an inch in width, but more often smaller; the 5 petals are finely notched at the tip and along one side, their color is a strong yellow turning in maturity to tawny; the calyx is 5-parted and a light yellow-green modulating between the petal and leaf colors; the many yellow stamens radiate from the center. The flowers are set in leafy terminal groups.
This cheery neighbor to the Daisy and Yarrow, though spruce and pretty when freshly adorned with bloom, is, it must be confessed, a sad slattern, for it does not shed its withered petals but holds them, ragged and unkempt, among the newly opened flowers during the long season of its blossoming. The yellow of the unopened bud is of a noticeably fine quality.
LARGE ST. JOHN’S-WORT: Hypericum perforatum.
| Lesser St. John’s-Wort. | Hypericum maculatum. |
Found in damp, weedy thickets and fields, during July and August.
The slender, very round, fine-fibred stalk, from 12 to 18 inches high, is noticeably erect in gesture, and bears short angular branches. Its green is often tinged with a ruddy color.
The leaf is oblong, with an entire margin, and smooth, fine texture; the perforations are not conspicuous, and the color is a full green. The arrangement is in pairs.
The 5 petals of the small flower are sharp-pointed, thin, and yellow, faintly marked with black lines which show more strongly on the outside than on the inside of the corolla; the calyx is greenish and 5-parted. The flowers, on short stems, form terminal groups.