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Hypericum calycinum

Common name:	Rose Of Sharon	Family:	Hypericaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	11, 17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	W. Asia - Turkey. Naturalized in Britain.
Habitat:	Grassy places and open woods to 1800 metres[184].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Aaron's Beard [P], Aaron's-beard [B], Creeping St John's Wort [H], Rose Of Sharon [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	calycinum = with (notable) calyx;

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 0.3m by 1m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 6. It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to September, and the seeds ripen from September to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay and nutritionally poor soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Dye; Ground cover.

A good ground cover plant[182, 208], succeeding in the heavy shade of trees and in dry shade[190, 200]. Very vigorous, it can swamp out small plants. For the densest cover plants should be cut to ground level each April[197].
A yellow-orange dye is obtained from the flowers.

Cultivation details

Easily grown in any reasonably good well-drained but moisture retentive soil.[1] Succeeds in dry soils[200] and in chalky soils[11]. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Succeeds in sun or shade but flowers better in a sunny position[11]. Grows well even in the shade of tall trees[1, 20, 31]. Tolerates poor soils and also drought when it is established[184].
A very cold-hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to about -25°c[184].
A very ornamental but very invasive plant, spreading by means of stolons[1, 182].
Seldom sets seed in Britain, probably due to our wet autumns[182].
Plants are often afflicted with rust disease[182, 200]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 3 months at 10°c. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood 10 - 12 cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Plant out in the following spring[200].
Cuttings of mature wood, 12 - 17cm with a heel, October/November in a sheltered position outdoors. Plants root by the spring. Good percentage[78].
Division in spring as new growth commences[78]. Very easy, larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on in a cold frame until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the spring.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[20] Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 1978 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Fairly good.

[31] Brown. Shade Plants for Garden and Woodland.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[182] Thomas. G. S. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray 1992 ISBN 0-7195-5043-2
Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.

[184] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Shrubs. Pan Books 1989 ISBN 0-330-30258-2
Excellent photographs and a terse description of 1900 species and cultivars.

[190] Chatto. B. The Dry Garden. Dent 1982 ISBN 0460045512
A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.

[197] Royal Horticultural Society. Ground Cover Plants. Cassells. 1989 ISBN 0-304-31089-1
A handy little booklet from the R.H.S.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[208] Thomas. G. S. Plants for Ground Cover J. M. Dent & Sons 1990 ISBN 0-460-12609-1
An excellent detailled book on the subject, very comprehensive.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Hypericum+calycinum
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