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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE ST. JOHNSWORT FAMILY | |||||||||
| The St. Johnsworts are widespread in tropical regions. Most of the species found in temperate regions are shrubby, though there are exceptions. The leaves are opposite with clear or black glandular dots. The sepals and petals are in fours or fives. The petals are often yellow. There are many stamens that are commonly arranged in fascicles, or bundles. The fruit type is a septicidal capsule. The stems often contain a sticky sap. | |||||||||
| MARSH ST. JOHNSWORT | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Triadenum fraseri | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Marsh St. Johnswort grows 30 – 60 cm tall from thick, yellowish-orange fibrous roots and a creeping rhizome. The plants are herbaceous, with a simple, upright, hairless stem. The leaves are opposite and stalkless to clasping. The leaves are round to oval and hairless. The lower surface has black glandular dots and is slightly bluish. The flowers are in the leaf axils or at the tops of the plant and have stalks. Flowers are pinkish to greenish to purplish, with the petals overlapping in bud. The flowers have nine stamens arranged in three bundles that are opposite orange nectar glands. The fruit is a capsule. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| As the name implies, marsh St. Johnswort grows in aquatic environments. This species can be found in up to 2 feet of water in floating marshy sedge fens, open quaking bogs, and reed grass islands. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant grows in eastern Saskatchewan in the Mid-Boreal Lowland. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Marsh St. Johnswort is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is extremely rare and highly regionally restricted. This species is almost always locally sparse. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY MARSH ST. JOHNSWORT | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves round to oval-shaped? * Are the flowers pinkish? * Are there nine stamens arranged in bundles of three? * Did you find it in eastern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have marsh St. Johnswort! | |||||||||
