Story and photos by Jennifer Devine
Note: Safely foraging wild plants for home use takes practice. Always go with an experienced forager to learn how to identify plants in the field.
Wort: noun for plant, herb and vegetable
Okay, as I write this, it hasn’t exactly been summer weather. However, there is a plant we can count on to begin blooming around the solstice. A signal that summer is here!
Staring out my window and longing for the sun to return, not only for my mental health but for my poor drowning plants, I catch glimpses of yellow in a landscape of green and brown. I slip out in-between downpours and walk the 50 feet to a pre-made clearing affectionately called Deer Field. There’s a hunting blind on the far side overlooking patches of Timothy, orchard, Kentucky blue and crab grasses; sweet ferns; Canada frostweeds; orange hawkweeds and more.
But the one I’m here for and drawn to is a perennial shrub known as St. John’s wort, Hypericum perforatum. You’ve probably heard of it and may even have taken the herb as a supplement. This shrub variety is known as an invasive plant, but as I look at the sunshine growing beneath me on this dreary grey day, I want more. You’ll find it in fields, gardens, roadsides and even cracks in a parking lot. Especially where it’s sunny and the soil is sandy.
Appearance and uses
Reaching heights of 1-3 feet in sporadic clumped colonies, the plant’s leaves are oblong and opposite patterned. When held up to the light, you’ll spot pin-sized holes. Another identifier is squeezing the yellow bud or emerging 1-inch star-shaped yellow flower in your fingers and coming away looking like you’ve just harvested a bunch of mulberries.
To use, pluck leaves and flowers or cut 2-3 inches off the top. You can make oils, tinctures, salves and teas. Find recipes here: https://www.eclecticherb.com/blog//harvesting-and-using-st-johns-wort
St John’s wort is an herbal remedy that has been used for hundreds of years to treat mental health problems. Fresh bunches used to be hung outside the door on June 23, the eve of the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, to ward off evil spirits and purify homes.
Today, it is mainly used as an over-the-counter remedy to treat mild to moderate depression and sometimes seasonal affective disorder (SAD), mild anxiety, inflammation and sleep problems. Always consult your doctor before ingesting an herbal remedy that may not mix well with a medication you are already taking. (For a list of drug interactions, go to: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-st-johns-wort/art-20362212.) Also, beware of any skin reactions by testing a small spot 24 hours before applying a salve mixture to cuts, burns and bruises. The salve is said to help with the healing process and alleviate nerve pain, to name a few of its purported therapeutic properties.
Do you have this wonderful weed growing near you? See it on the side of the road with the other wild weed flowers? Be on the lookout while you’re enjoying MI Backyard.
