Your help is appreciated. We depend on donations to help keep this site free and up to date for you. Can you please help us?

Donate

Native Plant Trust: Go Botany Discover thousands of New England plants

Hypericum frondosum — cedar glade St. John's-wort

Copyright: various copyright holders. To reuse an image, please click it to see who you will need to contact.

Facts

As its common name suggests, Cedar glade St. John's-wort typically inhabits glades and dry limestone ledges in its native range in the southeastern U. S. Further north in New England, where it is considered non-native, it can be found on roadsides and in cultivated areas. Look for bluish-green foliage in summer, which turns golden in the fall. Yellow flowers appear singly or in small clusters on the ends of branches in mid-summer. The bark of mature shrubs is shaggy.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

New England distribution

Adapted from BONAP data

Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.

North America distribution

Adapted from BONAP data

enlarge

Characteristics

Habitat
terrestrial
New England state
  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
Growth form
the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
Leaf type
the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
Leaves per node
there are two leaves per node along the stem
Leaf blade edges
the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
Leaf duration
the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
armature on plant
the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
Leaf blade length
25–60 mm
Leaf blade width
10–15 mm
Leaf stalk
  • the leaves have leaf stalks
  • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem
Fruit type (general)
the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
Bark texture
  • the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
  • the bark of an adult plant peels off easily or hangs off
Twig winter color
  • brown
  • gray
  • white
Show all characteristics

  • Buds or leaf scars

    Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
    NA

  • Flowers

    Carpels fused
    the carpels are fused to one another
    Enlarged sterile flowers
    there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
    Flower petal color
    • orange
    • yellow or green
    Flower symmetry
    there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)
    Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
    NA
    Hypanthium present
    the flower does not have a hypanthium
    Inflorescence type
    • the flowers grow out of the axil (point where a branch or leaf is attached to the main stem)
    • the inflorescence has only one flower on it
    • the inflorescence is a dichasial cyme (an axis with a terminal flower, below it a pair of branches, each with a terminal flower, these branches may in turn each have a pair of branches and so on)
    Number of pistils
    1
    Ovary position
    the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
    Petal and sepal arrangement
    the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures
    Petal appearance
    the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)
    Petal fusion
    the perianth parts are separate
    Sepal cilia (Ilex)
    NA
    Stamen number
    13 or more

  • Fruits or seeds

    Berry color
    NA
    Fruit tissue origin
    there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit
    Fruit type (general)
    the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
    Fruit type (specific)
    the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)
    Nut with spines (Fagaceae)
    NA
    Wings on fruit
    there are no wings on the fruit

  • Glands or sap

    Sap color
    the sap is clear and watery
    Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
    NA

  • Growth form

    Growth form
    the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)

  • Leaves

    Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
    the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs
    Leaf blade base shape
    the base of the leaf blade is rounded
    Leaf blade edges
    the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
    Leaf blade edges (Acer)
    NA
    Leaf blade hairs
    at least some of the hairs on the leaf blade have glands at their tips
    Leaf blade length
    25–60 mm
    Leaf blade scales
    there are no scales on the leaf blades
    Leaf blade shape
    • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
    • the leaf blade is lanceolate (lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends)
    • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)
    • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)
    Leaf blade translucent dots
    the leaf blade has translucent dots on it
    Leaf blade width
    10–15 mm
    Leaf duration
    the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
    Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
    NA
    Leaf midrib glands
    the midrib of the leaf blade lacks glands on the upper surface
    Leaf stalk
    • the leaves have leaf stalks
    • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem
    Leaf stalk nectaries
    • NA
    • there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk
    Leaf teeth
    the edge of the leaf blade is entire (has no teeth or lobes)
    Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
    NA
    Leaf type
    the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
    Leaves per node
    there are two leaves per node along the stem
    Specific leaf type
    the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  • Place

    Habitat
    terrestrial
    New England state
    • Connecticut
    • Massachusetts
    Specific habitat
    • man-made or disturbed habitats
    • meadows or fields

  • Scent

    Plant odor
    the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor

  • Stem, shoot, branch

    Aerial roots
    the plant has no aerial roots
    Bark texture
    • the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
    • the bark of an adult plant peels off easily or hangs off
    Branch brittleness (willows only)
    NA
    Branch cross-section
    the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
    First-year cane (Rubus)
    NA
    Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
    NA
    Twig winter color
    • brown
    • gray
    • white
    Wings on branch
    the branch does not have wings on it
    armature on plant
    the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Not classified

In New England

Distribution

Connecticut
present
Maine
absent
Massachusetts
present
New Hampshire
absent
Rhode Island
absent
Vermont
absent

Conservation status

Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.

Massachusetts
not applicable (S-rank: SNA)

From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key

8.  Hypericum frondosum Michx. E

cedar glade St. John’s-wort. Hypericum aureum Bartr. • CT, MA. Roadsides, fields, areas 
of cultivation.

Native to North America?

Yes and no (some introduced)

Sometimes confused with

Hypericum prolificum:
inflorescence a terminal cyme mostly 3-7 flowers, sepals 7 mm long or shorter, and 10 mm long or shorter (vs. H. frondosum, with the inflorescence usually of solitary, terminal flowers, longer sepals 10–15 mm long, and petals 10–20 mm long).

Synonyms

  • Hypericum aureum Bartr.

Family

Hypericaceae

Genus

Hypericum