Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Southern Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
St. Andrew's Cross
Ascyrum hypericoides L.
- Family: St. Johnswort (Hypericaceae)
- Flowering: May-August
- Field Marks: This species is recognized by its slightly woody stems, opposite, toothless
4 yellow petals, and numerous stamens.
- Habitat: Wet to dry soils, open to dense woodlands of various species composition.
- Habit: Dwarf shrub with wiry branches.
- Stems: Slightly woody, spreading to ascending, branched, more or less flattened, up to 3 feet
tall, the bark exfoliating into shreds.
- Leaves: Opposite, simple, elliptic to oblong, rounded at the tip, tapering or rounded at the
sessile base, without teeth, dotted on both surfaces, smooth, up to 1 inch long, less than 1/2 inch
- Flowers: Usually solitary in the axils of the leaves, on stalks up to 1/4 inch long.
- Sepals: 4, green, arranged in 2 pairs; outer pair longer and wider than inner pair, dotted on
- Petals: 4, pale yellow, oblong-linear, up to 1/2 inch long, free from each other.
- Stamens: Numerous.
- Pistils: Ovary superior; styles 2.
- Fruits: Capsules ovoid, smooth, less than 1/2 inch long, with numerous small black seeds.
- Notes: This is a rather variable species with respect to growth form and to leaf size. It is found
in a wide variety of habitats. This species is sometimes called Hypericum hypericoides.
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