About Hypericum tenuifolium Pursh
Commonly called Atlantic St. John's-wort, Hypericum tenuifolium Pursh is a small, spreading shrub that grows 10 to 50 cm (4 to 20 inches) tall and forms low mats. Its species epithet tenuifolium comes from the Latin words tenuis meaning 'thin' and folium meaning 'leaf', a reference to its very narrow leaves. The leaves measure only 0.4–0.8 mm (0.016–0.031 in) wide and 4–11 mm (1⁄8–3⁄8 in) long, with rounded tips and revolute (rolled backward) margins. Its flowerheads are narrowly cylindric, and each flowerhead produces between 1 and 7 flowers. Individual flowers are 10–14 mm (3⁄8–1⁄2 in) across, with 5 sepals, 5 bright yellow petals, and 50 to 90 stamens. The ovaries are three-parted, and develop into cylindric capsule fruits. This species flowers in summer, typically from June through September, though flowering can sometimes continue as late as December. Hypericum tenuifolium is found in the Atlantic coastal plain of the southeastern United States, occurring in the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It grows in dry, open, sandy habitats including pine flatwoods, pine savannas, and sandhills.
