I think shrubs are wonderful. Shrubs give you all of the rugged features of a tree, but in a petite form that’s easy to deal with. If you take one of the most beautiful flowers around and make it into a shrub, you have a real winner. Shrubby St. Johnswort, Hypericum prolificum, is one such plant. There are several of these plants at Blue Jay Barrens, but they rarely reach a height of even half of their four foot potential. I found this specimen growing in the shade below a shallow embankment.
I wish I’d seen this plant when it was in bloom. The number of seed pods suggests it really put on a display of flowers. These pods still contained several seeds, so I collected a few. I’ve never tried to grow this species from seed. Other Hypericums are easy to grow, so I’m hoping this one will be the same. This plant would really be pretty growing up around the house.
The loose, flakey bark makes for an interesting stem. I don’t know how long it takes to form a nice trunk like this. Shrubby St. Johnswort is uncommon here, but I find specimens scattered through all the prairie openings. I’ve know some of these plants to suddenly disappear from a location where they’ve been growing for several years. Since they’re not supposed to be palatable to most mammals, I wonder what would cause all traces of the plant to vanish.
This individual suffered some type of trauma that caused the upper branches to be bent down. Now, I’m just speculating, if a bear sat on it, this same type of damage might occur. Since I have no proof that a bear didn’t sit on it, I must conclude that I have Black Bears at Blue Jay Barrens. Sorry, I deal with people all the time who use that type of logic and sometimes can't resist making fun. Actually, I could imagine a turkey standing on the branches while it gathered up the seed pods.
I’ll have to visit this plant during the summer to see if it repeats its floral display. If the seeds germinate, it shouldn’t take long to get a good sized plant. With a few plants growing outside my house, I should be able to discover some of the mysteries of Shrubby St. Johnswort growth patterns.
The Shrubby St. Johnswort, Hypericum prolificum, at Blue Jay Barrens is in the middle of its blooming season and there are many flowers that are beginning to show their age. The older flowers darken in color and take on an orange tint before changing to brown.
Most of the St. Johnswort flowers area very similar in appearance. The tall, tapering pistil is surrounded by an explosion of stamens. The leaves of Shrubby St. Johnswort are thicker and stouter than those of other species.
Non-flowering specimens are hardly noticeable in the tall grass. Deer don’t find this to be a browsable shrub, so the shrub doesn’t suffer any damage from this big brown nibbler. Winter weather seems to play the biggest role in restricting the height of Shrubby St. Johnswort. Following a winter with below average temperatures, I see many of these shrubs regrowing from the plant base.
Older specimens develop a nice flaky bark on the stem. The base of the plant always has an abundance of active buds and is usually shooting up new stems. Snow protects the plant base from the super cold temperatures, so the plant is always ready to rebuild itself if necessary.
Shrubby St. Johnswort is not very common at Blue Jay Barrens. The largest concentration is the 20 or so plants that grow in this small opening. This is an area of subsoil left exposed by erosion years ago. The ground to the right falls rapidly down towards a drainage way and the area to the left heads gradually up hill to the ridge. The bare face of the advancing head cut that was working its way up the slope can be seen on the left. The erosion has stopped and the area has stabilized, but this area is virtually without topsoil. I think it’s odd that the Shrubby St. Johnswort isn’t growing in the deeper soil up the slope.
Some of the Mound Builder Ants are busy caring for a cluster of aphids on the St. Johnswort seed pods. The ants are quick to exploit any source of food within their territory, especially the sweet honeydew produced by aphids.
Honeydew is the sweet byproduct produced by sap drinking insects. Many species of insects produce honeydew, including several leaf hoppers. I’ve seen ants care for groups of leaf hopper larvae in order to gather the honeydew, but the adult leafhoppers don’t seem to be as willing to receive this ant attention. This leaf hopper is producing a droplet of what may be St. Johnswort based honeydew. I wonder if there would be a market for honeydew if it could be collected in sufficient quantities.
