Common St. John’s wort – Hypericum perforatum

St. John’s wort description:

Hypericum perforatum L. (Old or other familiar names: bell-grass, bellflower, pothole-leaved bellflower, patchica bellflower, bloodroot) Stinging nettles – Guttiferae 30-60 cm tall, perennial plant. Stems straight bipinnate. Leaves oblong-ovate, obtuse. Inflorescences: umbels with many flowers. Flowers yellow.

Occurrence:

In dry places, along roadsides and in sparse woodland, mainly in Europe and northern Asia. In our country, it is ubiquitous in fields, on rocky, scrubby slopes and in sparse forests.

Part of it to be collected:

Leafy flowering stems that yield the

herba Hyperici.

Active ingredient:

Essential oil, tannic acid and dyes.

Collection and drying:

Collect the above ground part of the plant which flowers between the months of June and July. Drying can be carried out in a ventilated attic, as with other herbs, out of direct sunlight.

Processing and sale:

It is an old, superstitious folk remedy, still used quite often in folk medicine in the form of teas and decoctions. Source: Dr. Ferenc Darvas and Dr. Gyula Magyary-Kossa,Domestic herbs, their production, marketing, effects and medicinal uses