Hypericum ellipticum (Pale St. John’s-wort)

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Hypericum ellipticum Hook.

Pale St. John’s-wort

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Malpighiales	A broad group encompassing 16,000 species
Family	Hypericaceae	St. John’s Wort family
Genus	Hypericum	From ancient Greek hyper, “above,” and eikon, “picture,” from an old practice of putting flowers above a picture to ward off evil spirits
Species	ellipticum	Elliptical, about twice as long as wide

About plant names...

Pale St. John’s-wort is native to eastern North America. It appears in high elevations, in wet meadows and stream banks.

Plants: 8-20" (20-50 cm) tall. Stems are hairless, somewhat 4-angled.

Leaves: ⅜-1½" (1-4 cm) × ⅛-¾" (3-20 mm), and elliptical-oblong in shape, generally rounded at leaf tips, and attached directly to the stem (sessile).

Flowers: Yellow, in clusters of 1 to a few at stem and branch tips. Each flower is ⅜-½" (1-1.4 cm) around, with 5 yellow petals and 5 pale green sepals, a fountain of yellow stamens, and three styles fused into one in the center. (Rarely, the number of sepals and petals may be 4 or 6.) There are in excess of 100 stamens. Flowers appear from July to August.

Fruits: Capsules are ⅛-³/₁₆" (4-6 mm) × ⅛-³/₁₆" (3.5-5 mm), ellipsoid, and rounded to a tip.

Below is a comparison of some species of St. John’s wort:

7/6/2017 · Mt. Watatic, access road, Ashby, Massachusetts
≈ 1½ × 2" (4.3 × 5.4 cm) ID is uncertain

7/6/2017 · Mt. Watatic, access road, Ashby, Massachusetts
≈ 1¾ × 2" (4.8 × 5.2 cm) ID is uncertain

	You are here Hypericum ellipticum	*Hypericum mutilum*	*Hypericum perforatum*
Common Name	pale St. John’s-wort	dwarf St. John’s-wort	St. John’s wort
Plant	8-20" (20-50 cm) tall. Stems are hairless, somewhat 4-angled.<	4-18" (10-45 cm) tall, sometimes up to 31" (79 cm), heavily branched, with a shrublike habit. Branches may be 4-angled or smooth, tapering, and sometimes winged.	Less than 3' (91 cm) in height.
Flowers	Yellow, in clusters of 1 to a few at stem and branch tips. Each flower is ⅜-½" (1-1.4 cm) around, with 5 yellow petals and 5 pale green sepals, a fountain of yellow stamens, and three styles fused into one in the center. (Rarely, the number of sepals and petals may be 4 or 6.) There are in excess of 100 stamens. Flowers appear from July to August.	¼" (6.3 mm) in size, yellow or yellow-orange, with five petals and 5-15 stamens. Beneath the petals of each flower there are somtimes green bracts that are narrower but roughly the same length, one for each petal. Blooms from July to October.	Bright yellow, star-shaped, with five petals and many yellow stamens about the length of the petals. Petals have serrated edges and small black dots on the serrations. Flowers are up to ⅞" (2.5 cm) across.
Leaves	⅜-1½" (1-4 cm) × ⅛-¾" (3-20 mm), and elliptical-oblong in shape, generally rounded at leaf tips, and attached directly to the stem (sessile).	Roughly oval in shape, and attached directly to the stem (sessile). They are opposite, unlobed, ½-1½" (1.3-3.8 cm) long and ¼-¾" (6.3-19 mm) across.	Oval, about ⅜" (1.2 cm) long, with smooth edges, occurring in opposing pairs.
Fruit	Capsules are ⅛-³/₁₆" (4-6 mm) × ⅛-³/₁₆" (3.5-5 mm), ellipsoid, and rounded to a tip.	¹/₁₆-⅛" (2-3.5 mm) in length.
Range/ Zones
Habitats		Sandy forest floodplains, sandy swamps, moist to wed sandy prairies; damp, sandy, acidic areas in general
Type	Wild	Wild	Wild
Occurrence			Common, sometimes invasive

	*Hypericum punctatum*
Common Name	spotted St. John’s-wort
Plant	5-41" (13-105 cm) tall, with hairless red or green stems.
Flowers	Yellow, 5-petaled flowers, densely clustered at stem tips, are ¼-½" (8-15 mm) around. Sepals are *also dotted with rows of black dots.* At the center of each flower is a round central ovary, from which 3 styles extend. The tip of each style is often red. Surrounding this are more than 13 stamens. Flowers appear from May to Sep.
Leaves	Leaves are unlobed, hairless, opposite, oblong to oval elliptic, ¾-2" (1.9-5.7 cm) long × ¼-½" (8.3-12 mm) wide. *New leaves are spotted with tiny black glands.* They are typically widest somewhat past the midpoint. Leaves are usually attached to the stem (sessile).
Fruit	Upright, ovoid or teardrop-shaped capsule ⅛-¼" (4-6.3 mm) long, reddish to deep purple.
Range/ Zones
Type	Wild

Online References:

Gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org

Minnesota Wildflowers

The University of Michigan Herbarium

Wikimedia Commons

EFloras

References:

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; Townsend, John F.; Crowder, Bland (Ed.), Flora of Virginia, Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press, 2013, p. 645

7/6/2017 · Mt. Watatic, access road, Ashby, Massachusetts
≈ 2½ × 4" (7.1 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain

Hypericum ellipticum description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 16 Sep 2020.

7/6/2017 · Mt. Watatic, access road, Ashby, Massachusetts
≈ 3 × 3½" (7.6 × 9.3 cm) ID is uncertain

Range:

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