# Carolina St. John's-wort (Hypericum nitidum)

> A wetland shrub of southern ponds and stream banks that grows into dense thickets of needle-like leaves and small yellow flowers.

Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-st-johns-wort/

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 1 to 15 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 8 to 9
- Grows wild in: Stream banks, swamps and wet flats
- Native range: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Wet, Average
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Showy flowers, Tolerates wet soil
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Carolina St. John's-wort is a bushy shrub of the Coastal Plain, from the Florida Panhandle across southern Georgia, with a few stands in Alabama and the Carolinas. It grows on pond margins, open stream banks, sloughs and low pinelands, often in dense thickets of many stems. Its needle-like leaves and small yellow flowers crowd the branch tips. It is secure in Georgia and Florida, but NatureServe ranks it imperiled in Alabama and South Carolina. Plant it at the edge of a pond or along a wet ditch, where it can spread into a thicket of yellow bloom.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator uses the middle rate, about a foot and a half a year. Most plants grow many stout, bushy stems up to about 15 feet tall and form dense thickets. A slender Florida form stays 1 to 3 feet tall. The needle-like leaves run about half an inch to an inch long.

Clusters of 3 to 15 yellow flowers, each about half an inch across, open at the branch tips from April into July. Each flower has 50 to 80 stamens.

It grows wild on the Coastal Plain from the Florida Panhandle across southern Georgia, with outlying stands in Alabama and in one county each of North and South Carolina. Its home is pond margins, open stream banks, sloughs, ditches, flatwoods and low pinelands.

## How to grow Carolina St. John's-wort

Carolina St. John's-wort wants full sun or light shade and a wet soil, such as a pond margin, a stream bank or a low, sandy flat. Set plants 5 feet apart and 5 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Many St. John's-worts need light to sprout, so press the fine seed onto damp, sandy soil in spring without covering it.

Keep the soil wet through the first year. Its stems multiply into a clump over the years, so give it room to spread.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Slender capsules about a quarter inch long follow the flowers.

## Sources

- [Flora of North America, vol. 6: Hypericum nitidum and its subspecies (Norman K. B. Robson)](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100849)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Hypericum nitidum, Carolina St. John's-wort](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.141996/Hypericum_nitidum)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Hypericum nitidum, Carolina St. John's-wort](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HYNI3)
- [Alabama Natural Heritage Program: 2023 tracking list](https://cosam.auburn.edu/biology/alnhp/_assets/2023_trackinglist.pdf)
- [GBIF occurrence search, preserved specimens of Hypericum nitidum in the United States](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=3189542&country=US&basis_of_record=PRESERVED_SPECIMEN)
- [NatureServe Explorer, genus statement for Hypericum, from the Hypericum lissophloeus record](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.136635/Hypericum_lissophloeus)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Hypericum nitidum, HYNI3](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/HYNI3)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for bees: pollen, nectar, nesting and a bloom calendar from willow to witch hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-bees/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Carolina St. John's-wort, add ?species=carolina-st-johns-wort with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=carolina-st-johns-wort&zone=8&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Carolina St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=carolina-st-johns-wort): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=carolina-st-johns-wort
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Carolina St. John's-wort is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=carolina-st-johns-wort
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Carolina St. John's-wort needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=carolina-st-johns-wort:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Carolina St. John's-wort flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.