Hypericum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae (formerly often considered a subfamily of Clusiaceae).
The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. All members of the genus may be referred to as St. John's wort, and some are known as tutsan. The white or pink flowered marsh St. John's-worts of North American and eastern Asia are nowadays separated into the genus Triadenum.
There are 490 individual species in the genus.Hypericums vary from herbaceous annual or perennials 5–10cm tall to shrubs and smalltrees up to 12m tall. The leaves are opposite, simple oval, 1–8cm long, either deciduous or evergreen. The flowers vary from pale to dark yellow, and from 0.5–6cm in diameter, with five (rarely four) petals, most having prominent stamens. The fruit is usually a dry capsule which splits to release the numerous small seeds.
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