Sandhills St. John's Wort is a perennial, deciduous subshrub that grows to about 8 inches tall with showy yellow flowers. This plant is found naturally in dry woodlands, sand hills, road banks, and on the edge of flat rocks. It is not commonly found in the lower Piedmont and is generally rare to very uncommon in the Coastal Plain, including the Sandhills. It can occasionally be seen in large numbers in a few favored sites. This plant has a spreading habit. Sandhills St. John's Wort is stoloniferous and has fragrant awl or needle-like leaves. it prefrs full sun in well-drained moist to dry soil. Propagation is by stem cutting or division. The bright yellow, 5-petaled flowers usually grow in small clusters at the ends of branches but can grow in axils. When in full bloom, the plant is quite showy and a colony of them can be quite spectacular along a woodland margin. Sandhills St. John's Wort requires at least 6 hours of sun a day for maximum blooms and does best in dry soil. Use in the borders of native pollinator gardens. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems : No significant problems.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Occasionally Dry
NC region
Coastal; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 6 in. - 0 ft. 8 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 3 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Slow
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
5 - Groundcover (<1 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Dense; Erect; Multi-stemmed; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Opposite; Whorled
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf value
Fragrant
Leaf size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
The linear leaves grow to an average of about 2/3-inch, and other leaves can grow in the axils so as to make plants appear to have whorled leaves. In the winter, leaves may appear bronze. They are very narrow, nearly looking like needles. Opposite or whorled, decussate, simple, entire; sessile or petiole short.
Fall color
Brown/Copper
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Long Bloom Season; Showy
Flower form
Cyme
Flower shape
Tubular
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Flowers are about 1/3 inch. Solitary or cymose, terminal or axillary. Yellow (usually) 5-petaled (rarely 4), 5 sepals (rarely 4); stamens numerous, in bundles or in showy boss; Flowers bloom June-September.
Bloom time
Fall; Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
A 3 to 5 celled capsule, sometimes fleshy. Fruit is available June-October.
Stem detail
Numerous branches from the base, some erect and other spreading. Contains 2 to 4(up to 6) ridges on newer growth, smooth and rounded on older growth.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Southeastern United States
Distribution
Georgia , North Carolina , South Carolina , Virginia, and Alabama.