Hypericum calycinum

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Hypericum calycinum
Bauer's Illustration from Sibthorp's Flora Graeca
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Clusiaceae
Genus: Hypericum
Species: H. calycinum
Binomial name
Hypericum calycinum
L.

Hypericum calycinum is a prostrate or low-growing shrub species of the genus Hypericum (Clusiaceae). Widely cultivated for its large yellow flowers, its name as a garden plant include Rose of Sharon in Britain and Australia, and Aaron's beard, Great St-John's wort, and Jerusalem star.

[edit] Description

It is a low, creeping, woody shrub to about 1 m tall and 1–2 m wide but often smaller. The green, ovate leaves grow in opposite pairs. The solitary flowers are 3–5 cm in diameter, a rich yellow, with five petals and numerous yellow stamens. It is indigenous to southeast Europe and southwest Asia. It is a popular, semi-evergreen garden shrub with many named cultivars and hybrids derived from it.

Hypericum 'Hidcote', a hybridform used as a garden shrub
Hypericum 'Hidcote', a hybrid
form used as a garden shrub

In North America the name Rose of Sharon is applied to a species in a different order, Hibiscus syriacus.

[edit] External Links

Aaron's Beard (Hypericum calycinum L.) at wikiPlants