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| ## St. Andrew's cross {#st.-andrews-cross .Title-Header}              |
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| *Hypericum hypericoides* (L.) Crantz ssp. *hypericoides*              |
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| Plant Symbol = HYHYH                                                  |
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####### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center*

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.6993055555555556in"
height="1.7902777777777779in"}

### Alternate names

St. Andrew's wort, St. Peter's wort, Peterwort

### Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: The Alabama, Choctaw, Houma, Koasat, Natchez, and other
Native American tribes used St. Andrew's cross for medicinal purposes.
It was thought that infants would learn to walk at an earlier age if
they were bathed in a cold or warm tea made from the roots of the
plants. Children who were too weak to walk were bathed with a decoction
mixture made from the mashed roots. Infusions of the plant were
administered to children who had trouble urinating. Dysentery was
treated with an infusion made from the whole plant. An infusion of the
roots and branches was used to treat ulcerations and swollen glands. The
leaves were used to make an infusion to wash sore eyes. Roots were
gathered, at any time of year, and made into a decoction used to treat
severe pain, especially in childbirth. A decoction of the roots was also
used to treat colic. Rheumatism was treated with a decoction or infusion
of the leaves. The scraped roots and bark were used to treat fevers. To
treat toothaches, some bark was scraped from the stem and packed into
the offending tooth. The plant was used to treat horses that were bitten
by snakes.

### Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status (e.g. threatened or endangered
species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

### Description

*General*: St. Johnswort Family (Clusiaceae). St. Andrew's cross is a
native, perennial shrub or sub-shrub. The common name refers to the
petals, which make an oblique cross similar to the cross of Saint Andrew
the Apostle, patron saint of Scotland, Russia, and Greece. The shrub has
a single to several erect stems with several axillary branches at the
top (3 to 15 dm tall). Older stems are reddish-brown, with sloughing or
shredding bark. The linear leaf blades are variable, ranging in shape
from narrow to elliptical (5 to 25 mm long, 1.5 to 6 mm wide). The
solitary flowers are at the terminal ends of the branches, just above
the last pair of leaves. The two large and two small sepals are arranged
in unequal pairs. The four flower petals are pale yellow (8 to 10 mm
long) with numerous stamens. The oval to elliptical seed capsules (4 to
9 mm long) enclose black, oblong seeds (1mm long). The plants may flower
from spring through fall, or all year depending on the climate.

*Distribution*: For current distribution, please consult the Plant
Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

*Habitat*: St. Andrew's cross occurs in a wide variety of habitats. It
may be found in dry woods, pine flat-woods, pine barrens, moist to wet
thickets, hammocks, flood plains, wet woodlands, depressions, and bogs.

### Establishment

These plants are easy to cultivate and may be propagated by seed and
greenwood cuttings. The plants are useful in ornamental borders and rock
gardens.

### Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

These plant materials are somewhat available from commercial sources.
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

### References

Bailey, L.H. & E.Z. Bailey 1976. *Hortus Third: A concise dictionary of
plants cultivated in the United States and Canada*. Simon and Schuster
Macmillan Co., New York, New York. 1290 pp.

Banks, W.H. 1953. *Ethnobotany of the Cherokee Indians*. Master of
Science Thesis, University of Tennessee, Tennessee. 216 pp.

Coffey, T. 1993. *The history & folklore of North American wildflowers.*
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA. 356 pp.

Godfrey, R.K. & J.W. Wooten 1979. *Aquatic and wetland plants of
Southeastern United States*. Vol 2. University of Georgia Press, Athens,
Georgia. 933 pp.

Greene, W.F. & H.L. Blomquist 1953. *Flowers of the South: Native and
Exotic*. University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill, North
Carolina. 208 pp.

Moerman, D.E. 1998. *Native American ethnobotany*. Timber Press,
Portland, Oregon. 927 pp.

Small, J.K. 1933. *Manual of Southeastern flora*. University of North
Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 1554 pp. Small, J.K. 1933.

Speck, F.G. 1941. *A list of plant curatives obtained from the Houma
Indians of Louisiana*. Primitive Man Quarterly Bulletin of the Catholic
Anthropological Conference 14(4): Pp. 49-75.

Taylor, L.A. 1940. *Plants used as curatives by certain Southeastern
Tribes*. Botanical Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.

88 pp.

### Prepared By

## *Diana L. Immel*

Formerly USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o Environmental
Horticulture Department, University of California, Davis, California

### Species Coordinator

## *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, c/o Plant Science Department,
University of California, Davis, California

Edited: 27sep01 jsp; 20may03 ahv; 07jun06 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

*The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in
all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national
origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual
orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases
apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means for communication of program information (Braille,
large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA\'s [TARGET
Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
TDD).*

*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or
TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.*

*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
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