Plant of the day is: Hypericum coris or Heath-leaved St. John's wort

Plant of the day is: Hypericum coris or Heath-leaved St. John's wort.

Yellow is by far one of my favorite colors of flowers, something about the reminder of the sun.  That and the insects generally love the color as well.  The late show of the goldenrods is a bittersweet reminder that the fall is right around the corner.  With that being said, still some time to enjoy the summer and delve into an interesting species of Hypericum or St. John's wort.

Taxonomy:  Hypericum is the type genus for the family Hypericaceae which is sometimes included in the Clusiaceae family.  The family contains about 11 recognized genera, all others of which I have absolutely no clue what they are.  Time for some homework on this one.  The genus Thornea better have thorns though!  Within the genus Hypericum there are about 490 species, making it a fairly large genus with a nearly worldwide distribution.

Description:  A small evergreen shrub that only grows about a foot wide by a foot high.  Leaves are narrow and almost needle-like in appearance.  Leaves are opposite and occur in whorls of four to six leaves.  Flowers are obviously yellow and occur in terminal clusters with 5 petals and numerous prominent stamens.  The fruit is a dry capsule which splits to release numerous small seeds, very small seeds indeed. 

Native Habitat:  Found throughout the South of Europe and many parts of the Levant.  Grows on the hilly parts of the island of Crete.  Ahhh Crete, someday we shall meet.

Culture:  A good plant for a rock garden.  Needs full sun with well drained soil.  Is hardy from about zones 4-9.  One book reference mentions an equal parts rough loam, sand, and grit situated between two stones.  From all the pictures I've seen, very rocky places should be investigated for H. coris.  Despite the drainage requirements it does like a little water.  Easily grown from seed (no significant dormancy that I can tell) and can be propagated from cuttings as well.  

Here are some pictures.  Enjoy.

Image Credit: Kurt Stuber GFDL

Image Credit: Kurt Stuber GFDL

Image Credit: Ghislain Chenais GFDL