The sunshine plant St. Johns Wort

St. Johns Wort - Hypericum perforatum - the Summer Solstice plant, which is coming June 20th of this year, the solstice not just the plant but usually this is a time when the plant is in full bloom

Our seasonal St. Johns Wort Oil

Currently sold out but don’t worry we will be working on another batch of this goodness once this plant goes into full bloom!

There are so many things I love about this plant and one of them is that the name itself describes two ways to identify this plant in the wild. Hypericum is the family name of this plant and hypericin is the incredible chemical compound known for many of this plants benefits, when you squish the flowers of St. Johns Wort in your fingers this purple / reddish color appears, identifying feature #1. Next we have perforatum which is adorably relating to the perforations or little holes that line the leaves of this plant. When you hold the leaves up to the sunlight you can clearly see these holes lining the leaves, identifying feature #2. The stems are also very long & leggy but they stand up straight and at the tippy top you will find groups of these beautiful small yellow flowers that hav small little black dots lining the edges of the flower petals.

This plant gets its energy from the sun, I know I know all plants do from photosynthesis but this one literally thrives on the sun. It’s one of the few plants that you should harvest midday with the full sun on it as it gets stronger from the energy of the sun. Most herbs prefer to be harvested in the morning to avoid damage or loss of benefits from the heat of the sun.

The color this incredible plant produces comes from the hypericin in this species and it turns this bright vibrant almost blood like red color. This color matches with that of the solar plexus so it can also be very grounding for those in need of solar plexus support.

St Johns Wort flowers in full bloom

Being that this plant is all about sunshine it’s no surprise that it can act as an anti-depressant bringing light to places of dark within.

There are many herbal actions of this powerful plant; anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, anti-viral, diuretic, relieves anxiety, vulnerary, nervine, digestive support, neuroprotective, hepatic, alterative, pain reliever.

Energetics of this plant; warming, bitter, drying & sweet

Ways to work with this incredible plant medicine

This herb is amazing support for SAD seasonal affective disorder, or seasonal depression especially due to trauma, overall anxiety and depression

Nerve pain including sciatica, neuralgia, pinched or damaged nerves, tooth pain from nerve damage.

Hypothyroidism & overall slow/sluggish energies

Chronic inflammatory states especially for skin complications including skin lesions, rashes, acne & wound healing

Female reproductive & hormonal disruptions

Hepatitis, herpes, chickenpox & flu strains

Caution - Not intended for internal use for everyone!

This plant is contraindicated for those taking internal medicines such as SSRIs or antidepressants, blood thinners, medication for organ transplants, anti-HIV medications and heart medications such as digoxin as it can effect the effectiveness of these medications as it effects the way the liver breaks down & digests these medications.

It is still safe to work with this herb topically while on these medications as it does not act on the liver when absorbed through the skin.

Stay tuned for some of my favorite St. Johns Wort herbal medicine making recipes!