Imperforate St John's-wort - Hypericum maculatum
Hairless erect plant with square, four lined but not winged stems, spreading and rooting at the base. Leaves opposite, unstalked, net veined mostly without translucent dots and edged with black dots. Flowers golden yellow, 18 to 20 mm in broad panicles.
Other St.John's-worts. See ID Aids below.
Stems with 4 ridges, but not winged; square in cross section. Leaves with no (or very few) translucent glands (hold the leaf up to the light); black glands on leaves and petals, and sometimes sepals.
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!). The leaf perforations are visible as translucent dots if the leaf is held up to the light.
A photo of the plant in its habitat; confirmation that leaves have no translucent dots
Grass verges and rough grassland.
June to September.
Perennial.
Widespread in Britain, but sometimes local in distribution.
Not common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 36 of the 617 tetrads.
In the current checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as subspecies obtusiusculum; Native; now nearly scarce.
It is on the VC55 Rare Plant Register
David Nicholls
Ulverscroft
14 July 2011
David Nicholls
Ulverscroft
14 July 2011
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Species profile
- Common names
- Imperforate St. John's-Wort, Imperforate St John's-wort
- Species group:
- flowering plant
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Malpighiales
- Family:
- Hypericaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 6
- First record:
- 14/07/2011 (Nicholls, David)
- Last record:
- 29/07/2020 (Calow, Graham)
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% of records within its species group
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Latest images
Latest records
Fomoria septembrella
The larva of the moth Fomoria septembrella mines the leaves of Hypericum species, most commonly Perforate St John's-wort at first in a narrow gallery, later becoming a blotch mine.
Euspilapteryx auroguttella
The larva of the moth Euspilapteryx auroguttella mines the leaves of various Hypericum species such as St John's-worts initially in a lower surface gallery and then into a blotch, becoming a small narrow tentiform mine lined with silk. Later on the larva feeds and pupates in a leaf margin folded down.
Dasineura hyperici
The larvae of the midge Dasineura hyperici cause galls on various Hypericum species (e.g. St John’s-worts). The topmost leaves form a loose ball; the basal part of the leaves is swollen and discoloured, but the upper part is not affected as much. There may be several larvae to a single gall, they are whitish at first, becoming orange or red later.
Dasineura serotina
The larva of the midge Dasineura serotina produces galls on Hypericum species such as St John's-worts. The gall is formed out of the terminal bud of a stem. The hyaline white larva is surprisingly small in relation to its gall.