# Shrubby St. John's-wort (Hypericum prolificum)

> A dense, rounded shrub whose golden summer flowers each hold a brush of up to 500 stamens, above bark that peels to orange-brown.

Family: Hypericaceae. Also called Hypericum spathulatum. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/shrubby-st-johns-wort/

![Shrubby St. John's-wort (Hypericum prolificum) golden flowers with brushes of stamens among narrow leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/shrubby-st-johns-wort-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHypericum_prolificum_Arkansas_2.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 1 to 6 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 9
- Grows wild in: Rocky ground, dry uplands, stream banks, old fields and edges
- Native range: 27 states and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), north to [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), south to [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL) and west to [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC)). Also recorded, not native, in [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI) and [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT)
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Slow
- Flowers: June to August
- Fruit: Capsules, September to November
- First crop: 3 years (first flowers)
- Mature spread: 4 ft
- Traits: Showy flowers, Drought tolerant, Winter interest, Wildlife value, Erosion control
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

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

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Shrubby St. John's-wort is a dense, rounded shrub of rocky slopes, dry wooded hillsides and stream gravels across the eastern United States. It grows taller than our Kalm's St. John's-wort, with broader leaves, and its flowers usually have three styles where Kalm's have five. The two sometimes cross in gardens. New York lists it as threatened and New Jersey as endangered. Its peeling bark and the seed capsules that hang on all winter give it winter interest, and it helps hold soil on embankments. Mass it on a sunny bank or grow it as a low hedge along a dry border.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Shrubby St. John's-wort grows slowly, 6 inches to a foot a year in our growth estimator. It makes a dense, rounded shrub usually 3 to 4 feet tall and as wide, at most 6 feet, and the older bark peels away to show orange-brown beneath. Its narrow, dark green leaves run 1 to 3 inches long. A shrub can be short-lived, but it seeds itself freely, and seedlings may flower in their third year.

Golden flowers up to an inch across open from June to August, each with a brush of 150 to 500 stamens. A flower lasts one day, but a shrub stays in bloom for about three weeks. The capsules ripen and split in fall and hang on through winter.

It grows wild from New York and southern Ontario west to Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa, and south to Georgia, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Its home is rocky slopes, dry wooded hillsides, old fields and gravel bars along streams. In New England it is not native and grows only in disturbed ground.

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

Shrubby St. John's-wort flowers best in full sun and takes part shade. It grows in sand, loam or clay, acid or limy, as long as the soil drains, and once rooted it rides out drought. It stands occasional flooding but can be short-lived where winters stay wet. Set plants 3 feet apart and keep them 2 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. Gather the capsules as they turn brown and split in fall. Sow the seed outdoors in fall, pressed onto damp soil without covering it. For spring, hold the seed damp in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 weeks first. Kept warm indoors, seedlings come up in two to three weeks.

Water it every day for the first two weeks after planting, then every two to three days until week 12. After that, water weekly through the first two summers, then only in long droughts. It flowers on new growth, so prune it, if needed, in early spring. Deer and rabbits seldom browse it.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Bumble bees and other bees gather its abundant pollen, since the flowers make no nectar. It has no serious pests, though root rot and wilt can strike in hot, humid summers. Eating the plant or getting its sap on the skin can poison some people, making their skin sensitive to sunlight.

## Sources

- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Hypericum prolificum](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hypericum-prolificum/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Hypericum prolificum](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HYPR)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Hypericum prolificum](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=279208&isprofile=0)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Shrubby St. John's wort](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/shrubby-st-johns-wort/)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 6: Hypericum prolificum (Norman K. B. Robson)](http://floranorthamerica.org/Hypericum_prolificum)
- [Native Plant Trust, Go Botany: Hypericum prolificum](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/hypericum/prolificum/)
- [Arkansas Native Plant Society: Know Your Natives, Shrubby St. John's-wort (Vogelpohl 2019)](https://anps.org/2019/07/30/know-your-natives-shrubby-st-johns-wort/)
- [University of Minnesota, Department of Horticultural Science: Good 2023, Hypericum prolificum: The Perfect Cold-Hardy Wildflower Hedge for your Butterfly Garden](https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstreams/27762524-0dc9-470b-bf06-292785ecc9b3/download)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Hypericum prolificum](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.145689/Hypericum_prolificum)
- [New York Natural Heritage Program: Rare Plant Status List, 2024](https://www.nynhp.org/documents/321/rare-plant-status-list-2024.pdf)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Hypericum prolificum](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/HYPR)

## 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)
- [What a young tree looks like: first-year seedlings of oak, walnut, hickory, chestnut, maple and redbud, and the weed trees to pull](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/what-a-young-tree-looks-like/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)

## Related

- We grow 7 other St. John's-worts (Hypericum): [all of them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/index.html.md?q=hypericum)
- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Saskatoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/saskatoon/index.html.md), [Common Prickly Ash (Toothache Tree)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-prickly-ash/index.html.md), [Gray Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/index.html.md) and [Roughleaf Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roughleaf-dogwood/index.html.md)
- Trees to plant it under: [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md), [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) and [Winged Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/winged-elm/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Golden St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/golden-st-johns-wort/index.html.md), [Smooth-bark St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/smooth-bark-st-johns-wort/index.html.md), [Lloyd's St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/lloyd-st-johns-wort/index.html.md) and [Kalm's St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/kalm-st-johns-wort/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Shrubby St. John's-wort, add ?species=shrubby-st-johns-wort with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 3, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=shrubby-st-johns-wort&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Shrubby St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=shrubby-st-johns-wort): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Shrubby St. John's-wort as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=shrubby-st-johns-wort (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Shrubby St. John's-wort is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=shrubby-st-johns-wort (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Shrubby St. John's-wort needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 1 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=shrubby-st-johns-wort:1
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Shrubby St. John's-wort where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=shrubby-st-johns-wort&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Shrubby St. John's-wort goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=shrubby-st-johns-wort&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Shrubby St. John's-wort flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=shrubby-st-johns-wort