SCIENTIFIC NAME: Hypericum sphaerocarpum
COMMON NAMES: Round-fruited St. John's Wort, Roundseed St. Johnswort
BLOOM TIME: June, July, Aug, Sept
PLANT PROFILE:
- Grows up to 2 ½ ft. tall with branch clusters at top.
- Pretty yellow flowers grow at cluster ends & each have 5 1/2 in. petals & multiple stamens.
- Flowers have mild buttercup fragrance.
- Habitat: woods, roadsides, & fields.
- A true prairie plant scattered throughout Illinois.
- Old lore states it got its name from the red resin in back glands of flower petals.
- In Middle Ages it was said, the red drops were blood shed by St. John the Baptist when he was beheaded.
- The word ”wort” is an old English word for plant.
INSECT/ANIMAL INTERACTIONS:
- Bumblebees & other long-tongued bees are probably the most important pollinators of the flowers.
- Insects collect or feed on the abundant pollen, because the flowers offer no nectar.
- The caterpillars of the Gray Hairstreak butterfly reportedly eat the seed capsules, although it is not a preferred host plant.
- Like other St. John's Worts, the foliage of this species contains a toxic chemical that causes photosensitive skin reactions, particularly in light-skinned animals, and can irritate the gastrointestinal tract.
- Mammalian herbivores usually leave this plant alone if other food sources are available.