• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Cure Nursery

Native Plants of the Southeast

  • Home
  • All Plants
    • Search Our Plants by Plant Characteristics
    • Alphabetical by Scientific Name
    • Search Our Plants by Common Names
  • Availability & Pricing – Winter/Spring 2021
  • Resources
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Hypericum stragulum
St. Andrew's Cross, Low, Creeping, Straggling, Decumbent or Reclining St. John’s-Wort, Low, Creeping, Stragging, Decumbent or Reclining St. Andrew's Cross

Photo by Cure Nursery

In spite of its intimidating scientific appellation, St. Andrew’s Cross is a humble little “subshrub”, one that is not found elsewhere in the trade. It occurs in dry woods from Long Island south and over to Texas and Oklahoma. We are very fond of it as it volunteers along paths inside our deer fence in the central piedmont of NC. It is small, neat, well formed, cheerful, and trouble-free. It is a woody, much-branched little mound (10″ tall x 24″ wide) with shreddy bark and small, sessile, oval-shaped leaves, deciduous in our area but holding its leaves in our cold frames or further south. It has many, tiny, perfect, X-shaped yellow flowers in late spring/summer which then develop into seeds enclosed between two brownish bracts in late summer/fall. St. Andrew’s Cross tolerates dry clay soil and complete neglect and is an endearing small friend along the path or filling nooks and crannies of the garden, if it is not overly shady.

Last Updated: May 21, 2019

Key Info

Scientific Name: Hypericum stragulum W.P. Adams & N. Robson syn. Hypericum hypericoides  
Common Names: St. Andrew's Cross, Low, Creeping, Straggling, Decumbent or Reclining St. John’s-Wort, Low, Creeping, Stragging, Decumbent or Reclining St. Andrew's Cross
Family Name: Clusiaceae (St. John's-Wort Family)
Plant Type: Subshrub, Groundcover
Uses: Groundcover, Rock garden, Edging plant
Light Requirement: Full shade-bright, Partial/sunny, Partial/shady
Moisture Requirement: Dry, Medium, Moist well drained
Leaf Retention: Evergreen in southern parts of its range
Bloom Times: May, Jun, Jul, Aug
Flower Color: Bright yellow
Special Characteristics: Attracts bees, Slow growing, Tolerates shade, Tolerates drought, Reported to be deer resistant.

Additional Info

Habit: Stems are spreading, decumbent, reddish, finely winged, with shredding bark on older branches, forming a wide mat or mound.
Height: 6"-12"
Spread: 12'-18"
Growth Rate: Moderate to slow
Soil Conditions: Dry or moist well drained, pH acid, circumneutral or alkaline, light (sandy), medium (loamy), heavy (clay)
Leaves: Opposite arrangement of sessile, oval-shaped, entire leaves wider towards the tip, up to 1" long x 1/4" wide, base wedge-shaped.
Flowers (or reproductive structures): Flowers occur at the tips of stems and upper leaf axils. They are 4-petaled, yellow, the narrow petals forming an oblique 'X', with many stamens and a single-loculed pistil. There are 4 sepals, 2 smaller and 2 larger which, after pollination, become erect and cradle the developing fruit.
Fruit: Each flower produces a capsule containing many small, round, black seeds held between two persitent, papery sepals, in late summer/fall.
Natural Distribution: Dry, rocky or sandy woodlands in dappled sunlight, but also bottomlands, depressions and bogs; dry, sandy soils of early succession, disturbed habitats.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 6 to 9
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FACU (FAC on Coast)
Pollination: Bees, butterflies, other insects; but the plant is self-fertile
Cultural Notes: This is an early succession species which in nature is threatened by habitat loss and succession. Care should be taken to prevent over-shading by taller, aggressive plants. Mowing or cutting back during dormancy can increase flowering and plant vigor.
Propagation: From seeds.
USDA/NRCS Plant Distribution Map: View Map at USDA.gov

Availability

Footer

contact us

facebook.com/curenursery
curenursery@earthlink.net
Office: (919) 542-6186

Appointments: (919) 885-8642

Who we are

Cure Nursery is a small nursery propagating and selling native plants for the Southeastern U.S. We are located near the town of Pittsboro, Chatham County, in central NC.

our hours

Cure Nursery operates by appointment only. Call us or email us to arrange a time to come out, or for delivery.

Copyright © 2021 Cure Nursery · All Rights Reserved · Resources · Website by Tomatillo Design