Hypericum densiflorum explained

Hypericum densiflorum, also known as bushy St. John's wort or dense St. John's wort, is a perennial herb in the flowering plant family Hypericaceae native to North America. The specific epithet densiflorum is Latin, meaning "densely flowered", referring to the many-flowered cymes.

Description

Hypericum densiflorum is a densely branched shrub with coppery bark that grows between NaNm (-2,147,483,648feet) in height. The many slender branches are slightly angled and branchlets are two-edged. The branches bear linear leaves and axillary fascicles, the leaves being NaNinches long and NaNinches wide. Its yellow flowers are NaNcm (-2,147,483,648inches) wide and are borne on crowded compound cymes. The firm and narrow sepals are NaNmm long and the pedicels are NaNinches long. The capsules vary in shape from lanceolate to slenderly conic, with three carpels and three styles. The capsules are long and thick.[1] [2]

The plant flowers from July to September and fruits from early October to the end of autumn.

Habitat and distribution

Hypericum densiflorum occurs on acidic soils in moist and wet conditions, including stream, pond, and lake banks, seepage slopes, and wet meadows. It prefers sandy clay loam and occurs from sea level to 1000m (3,000feet) of elevation.[3] [4] [5]

The shrub occurs throughout the eastern and southern United States though it grows far west as Texas and as far north as New York.

Ecology

H. densiflorum has been marked as a pollinator plant, supporting and attracting bees.

References

  1. Book: Gray's Manual of Botany . Merrit Lyndon Fernald . 1970 . R. C. Rollins . D. Van Nostrand Company . Eighth (Centennial) - Illustrated. 0-442-22250-5 . 1011.
  2. Book: An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions . 2nd . 2 . Nathaniel Lord Britton, Addison Brown . Charles Scribner's Sons . 1913 . 553.
  3. Web site: Hypericum densiflorum (Bushy St. John's-wort) . Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center . University of Texas at Austin . 18 August 2018.
  4. Web site: Hypericum densiflorum . eFloras . 18 August 2018.
  5. Web site: Planting Guides. 2022-01-29. Pollinator.org. en-US.