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July 17, 2012
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Southeastern, New Hampshire
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This little yellow flower looked to me like a St. John’s Wort (for some reason), but
IDing the actual species was difficult. An in focus closeup of the flower (including the
styles) would have helped. One thing to remember is that the flower petals of Dwarf
St. John’s Wort are yellow with a strong orange tinge. Key:
- Flowers with 5 sepals and 5 petals.
- Plants herbaceous.
- Petals 2-12 mm long.
- Styles distinct nearly to the base and not appearing as a single beak at the summit.
- Flowers with 5-22 stamen.
- Leaf blades 3-45 mm long, 1-7 nerved (veined), spreading to ascending.
- Sepals linear to linear-lanceolate (broadest near the middle).Capsules ellipsoid,
abruptly tapered and rounded at the summit. Stems decumbent (prostrate at the base) -- I
did not see this to be the case. At this point, I was thinking it might be Greater St.
John’s Wort (Hypericum majus), but I read that Greater St. John’s Wort
flower has 14-21 stamen and this flower has much fewer than 14 stamen. Dwarf St. John’s
Wort flower has 5-16 stamen.
- Sepals acute at the apex and nearly the same length as the capsule.
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