St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) · Herb Profile

At a glance

Botanical name: Hypericum perforatum
Family: Hypericaceae
Part used: Flower, Leaf
Taste: Bitter, Astringent
Temperature: Cool
Moisture: Dry

On temperature, Culpeper (1653) and Salmon (1710) read it as warm. The app keeps cool, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Avoid

While breastfeeding

Avoid during breastfeeding — infant exposure to hyperforin/hypericin; drug interaction profile too complex.

For children

Avoid under 12

Cautions

Extensive drug interactions via CYP450 induction; photosensitivity; bipolar caution

General contraindications

Avoid — insufficient safety data

Stewardship

St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is cultivated and wild; invasive in some western US ranges. Ethical wildcrafting where abundant; cultivated otherwise. Stewardship: the feast-day herb (St. John, June 24) — a marker of midsummer in Christian agricultural calendar.

In the traditional record

St. John's Wort — harvested on Midsummer (St. John's Day, June 24); ancient European folk tradition; Hippocrates referenced Hypericum

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Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.