Overview
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Aaron's Beard, Aarons Beard, Saint Johns Wort
Description
Genus Hypericum
[Trees
or] shrubs
, subshrubs
, or perennial
herbs, glabrous
or with simple
hairs
, with translucent
("pale") and often opaque
, black or reddish ("dark") glands
, laminar
(immersed
and sometimes abaxial
) and marginal
or intramarginal
. Leaves opposite [or whorled
], sessile or short petiolate
, venation
pinnate to palmate [or rarely dichotomous], margin
entire or gland-fringed. Inflorescence cymose
. Flowers bisexual
, homostylous [or heterostylous], stellate
or cupped. Sepals 5 and quincuncial or rarely 4 and decussate, unequal or equal, free
or partly united
. Petals (4 or) 5, contorted, golden to lemon yellow [or rarely white], abaxially sometimes tinged or veined red, persistent
or deciduous after anthesis
, usually asymmetric
. Stamens in [4 or]5 fascicles, free and antipetalous
, or some united to form apparently 4 or 3 fascicles with compound
fascicle(s) antisepalous
, or irregular and apparently not fasciculate, persistent or deciduous, each single fascicle with up to 70[-120] stamens; filaments
slender, free from nearly base
[or to 2/3 united] or apparently completely free; anthers
small, dorsifixed
or ± basifixed
, dehiscing longitudinally, with gland
on connective
; sterile
fascicles (fasciclodes) absent [very rare]. Ovary 3-5-loculed with axile
placentae or ± completely 1-loculed with (2 or) 3[-5] parietal
placentae, each placenta with [2 or] few to many ovules; styles (2 or) 3-5, free or partly to completely united, ± slender; stigmas small or ± capitate. Fruit a septicidal
capsule or rarely ± indehiscent, valves
often with oil-containing vittae or vesicles
. Seeds small, often carinate
or narrowly unilaterally winged
; testa variously sculptured
, not arillate
[very rarely carunculate]; embryo slender, straight, with distinct
slender cotyledons.
About 460 species: almost cosmopolitan
except for arctic
and desert areas and most of the lowland tropics; 64 species (33 endemic) in China.[1]
Physical Description
Habit: Deciduous.
Flowers: 2" gold flowers in June, July. Attracts butterflies. Long blooming. • Bloom Period: April, May. • Flower Color: gold, yellow-orange
Foliage: Summer foliage: Striking electric yellow green leaves.
Size/Age/Growth
Size: 12-18" tall.
Landscaping
Landscape Uses: Ground cover. Mass planting . • Care: Deer resistant. Tolerant of coastal conditions.
Biology
Growth
Culture: Plant 1' apart.
Soil: Organic , well-drained. Prefers most, well-drained soil, but will tolerate drier conditions.
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Part shade or sun.
Moisture: Water Requirements: Average to moist soil.
Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b. (map)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
)
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Theanae
(
)
- Thorne Ex Reveal, 1993
- Order:
Malpighiales
(
)
- C. Martius, 1835
- Family:
Hypericaceae
(
)
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Tribe:
Hypericeae
(
)
- Genus:
Hypericum
(
)
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- St. Johnswort
- Specific epithet:
calycinum
- Linnaeus
- Cultivar:
Brigadoon
- Botanical name: - Hypericum calycinum 'Brigadoon' Linnaeus
- Cultivar:
Brigadoon
- Specific epithet:
calycinum
- Linnaeus
- Genus:
Hypericum
(
- Tribe:
Hypericeae
(
- Family:
Hypericaceae
(
- Order:
Malpighiales
(
- Superorder:
Theanae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
A tentatively accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Hypericum
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 124 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:
H. acutifolium (Sharpleaf St. Johnswort) · H. adpressum (Creeping St. Johnswort) · H. anagalloides (Tinker's Penny) · H. androsaemum (Sweet Amber) · H. androsaemum L. 'Gladys Brabazon' (Sweet Amber) · H. androsaemum 'Albury Purple' (Sweet Amber) · H. androsaemum 'Esm Cho' (Tutsan 'esm Cho') · H. androsaemum 'Esm Española' (Tutsan 'esm Espa) · H. androsaemum 'Esm Greli' (Tutsan 'esm Greli') · H. androsaemum 'Esm Kalua' (Tutsan 'esm Kalua') · H. androsaemum 'Esm Ora' (Tutsan 'esm Ora') · H. androsaemum 'Esm Pin' (Tutsan 'esm Pin') · H. androsaemum 'Esm Re' (Tutsan 'esm Re') · H. androsaemum 'Esm Wet' (Tutsan 'esm Wet') · H. androsaemum 'Glacier' (Sweet Amber) · H. androsaemum 'Glob Dr205' (Tutsan 'glob Dr205') · H. androsaemum 'Glob Lp208' (Tutsan 'glob Lp208') · H. androsaemum 'Golden Tutsan' (Golden Tutsan St. John's Wort) · H. androsaemum 'Verpeacla' (Tutsan 'verpeacla') · H. ascyron (Great St. Johnswort) · H. ascyron gebleri (Great St. Johnswort) · H. boreale (Northern St. Johnswort) · H. brachyphyllum (Coastalplain St. Johnswort) · H. brathys (St. Johnswort) · H. buckleii (Buckley's St. Johnswort) · H. calcycinum (St. John's Wort) · H. calycinum (Aaron's Beard) · H. calycinum 'Brigadoon' (Aaron's Beard) · H. canadense (Lesser Canadian St. Johnswort) · H. canadense boreale (Lesser Canadian St. Johnswort) · H. canariense (Canary Island St. Johnswort) · H. cerastoides (Hypericum) · H. chapmanii (Apalachicola St. Johnswort) · H. cistifolium (Round-Pod St John´s-Wort) · H. concinnum (Goldwire) · H. crux-andreae (Atlantic St. Peter's-Wort) · H. cumulicola (Highlands Scrub Hypericum) · H. densiflorum (Bushy St. Johnswort) · H. denticulatum (Coppery St. Johnswort) · H. diosmoides (Puerto Rico St. Johnswort) · H. dissimulatum (Disguised St. Johnswort) · H. dolabriforme (Straggling St. Johnswort) · H. drummondii (Nits and Lice) · H. edisonianum (Edison Ascyrum) · H. ellipticum (Pale St. Johnswort) · H. elodes (Marsh Hypericum) · H. exile (Florida Sands St. Johnswort) · H. fasciculatum (Peelbark St. Johnswort) · H. forrestii (Forrests St. Johns Wort) · H. fortuneana 'Purple Fountain' (St. Johns Wort) · H. frondosum (Golden St John´s-Wort) · H. frondosum 'Sunburst' (Cedarglade St. John's Wort) · H. galioides (Bedstraw St. Johnswort) · H. gentianoides (Orangegrass) · H. gramineum (Small St John´s-Wort) · H. graveolens (Mountain St. Johnswort) · H. gymnanthum (Claspingleaf St. Johnswort) · H. harperi (Sharplobe St. Johnswort) · H. hookerianum (Hookers St. Johnswort) · H. humifusum (Trailing St John´s-Wort) · H. humifusum suborbiculatum (Trailing St. Johnswort) · H. hypericoides (Reclining St Andrew's Cross) · H. hypericoides hypericoides (St Andrews Cross) · H. hypericoides multicaule (St. Andrew's Cross) · H. hypericoides subsp. multicaule (St. Andrew's Cross) · H. japonicum (Matted St. Johns Wort) · H. kalmianum (Kalm´s St John´s-Wort) · H. kelleri (Hypericum) · H. lancasteri (Lancasters St. Johns Wort) · H. laricifolium (St. Johns Wort) · H. lissophloeus (Smoothbark St. Johnswort) · H. lloydii (Sandhill St. Johnswort) · H. lobocarpum (Fivelobe St. Johnswort) · H. majus (Large St Johnswort) · H. microsepalum (Flatwoods St. Johnswort) · H. mitchellianum (Blue Ridge St. Johnswort) · H. moseranum 'Tri-Color' (Gold Flower) · H. moserianum (St. Johnswort) · H. multicaule (St. Andrew's Cross) · H. mutilum (Dwarf St Johnswort) · H. myrtifolium (Myrtleleaf St. Johnswort) · H. nitidum (Carolina St. Johnswort) · H. nudiflorum (Early St. Johnswort) · H. oblongifolium (St. Johnswort) · H. olympicum f. minus 'Variegatum' (St. Johns Wort) · H. parvulum (Sierra Madre St. Johnswort) · H. patulum Thunb. 'Sungold' (St. Johns Wort) · H. patulum 'Hidcote' (Hidcote Hypericum) · H. patulum 'Variegatum' (St. Johns Wort) · H. pauciflorum (Fewflower St. Johnswort) · H. perforatum (Common St Johnswort) · H. perforatum chinense (Common St Johnswort) · H. polyphyllum (Rockery St. Johns Wort) · H. prolificum (Cinnamon Stick) · H. pseudomaculatum (False Spotted St. Johnswort) · H. pulchrum (Slender St. Johns Wort) · H. punctatum (Spotted St Johnswort) · H. reductum (St Johns Wort) · H. reptans (Creeping St. John's Wort) · H. revolutum keniense (Forest-Primrose)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
Notes
Contributors
- Behnke Nurseries, Beltsville, MD USA
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 31, 2012.
- Merrifield Garden Center, Fairfax VA USA
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 713381
Footnotes
- Xi-wen Li & Norman K. B. Robson "Hypericum". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 1, 2. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
