NOTE: Find out how to identify and forage St. John’s wort herb. Plus, directions for making St. John’s wort infused oil, one of the main ingredients in the famed Trauma Oil, and a wonderful healing oil all by itself! **For a video of how I process freshly foraged St. John’s wort, you’ll find it at the end of this article!

St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) is my favorite, beautiful harbinger flower-bringer of summer, as it begins its blooming around the annual summer solstice each year. You’ll see the bright five-petaled flowers raising their faces to the sun along roadsides, in fields, and other areas where it grows wild.

The flowering of St. John’s Wort is one of my favorite seasonal wonders—a true beacon of each new summer!

Known for a couple decades now, since the 1990’s, as “the anti-depression herb,” St. John’s Wort actually has far more and very powerful uses than simply helping with mental health. In fact, this terminology makes me cringe because when we collectively start viewing any herb as a “this or that” herb, we get away from the power of natural and alternative health care, including herbalism….which is in the holism of the practice.

Isolated chemicals found in St. John’s Wort, specifically hypericin and hyperforin, have been targeted and isolated in the past by pharmaceutical and nutriceutical companies touting the benefits of St. John’s Wort for this or that issue, primarily mental health.

These supplements were found to (overall) NOT to be effective. This is because herbalists know how important it is for the whole plant’s chemical constituents to work synergistically together in ways science still doesn’t understand.

When you remove just one plant constituent, or chemical, from the plant and isolate it, you lose the synergy of all the chemicals in the plant that make it an effective herbal remedy.

Willow bark and the chemical, salicin, it contains is another good example of this. When it’s isolated, there are side effects. When it’s not and used along with the whole plant part, it’s a gentle pain reliever with few or no side effects.

Scientists still don’t know how St. John’s wort’s constituents work to help with our minds and emotional wellness, but there are just too many anecdotal experiences (including my own) that prove it truly is helpful, especially during times of the year when there’s less sunlight. These are the days when many people experience seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) and need to find some ways to help.

I love to think of St. John’s wort as “bottled sunshine” during the dark days of winter.

Here’s a video where you can see how I work with St. John’s wort to make a tincture. I hope you’ll subscribe to my new channel!

Benefits and Uses of St. John’s Wort

St. John’s Wort truly is an herb for the entire body, mind, and spirit. It supports gut health, digestion, the liver and its natural detoxification processes, as well as the health of our thinking. It’s a premier herb for supporting the healing and health of the entire nervous system, starting with the mind/brain, to the sciatic nerve and more.

In fact, it’s been mentioned by Ancient Greek herbalist Dioscorides that he used it for sciatica and other nerve-related issues. Other ancients who mention St. John’s Wort in their healing repertoires include Theophrastus, Galen, and Paracelsus.

From my own personal experience with sciatica and back pain, and my long and consistent use of St. John’s wort over a period of time, it certainly has contributed to the health of my back and the nerves extending down my leg, as I no longer experience sciatic pain. It’s a miracle, in my opinion.

There’s some evidence that St. John’s Wort may also work wonders with our vagus nerve, the primary nerve in our solar plexus area that some believe helps manage our subconscious fear response. Some people call this our “second brain.”

Although as yet, there is not much in the way of clinical evidence for this aid, there are anecdotal experiences that point to a connection between our emotions and this nerve. It makes sense that such a strongly nervous system supportive herb like St. John’s wort would have an effect.

There are MANY more uses for St. John’s wort, and in fact, I have a treasure trove of recipes and remedies in the St. John’s Wort Masterclass that you can access in The Confident Herbal Tribe student group!

BANNER Herbal Remedy Guide.jpg — Click here to get your FREE Herbal Remedy Guide and Cheat Sheet for 10 Common and Easy to Find Herbs. It’s perfect for your home apothecary or kitchen!

Identifying and Foraging St. John’s Wort

I love foraging for wild medicinal and edible plants! For one thing, they’re growing in their natural environment, and this makes for a stronger medicinal plant in most cases (and also in my opinion). Finding your own medicines (or growing your own) is a blessing of a skill to learn and do!

To forage wild plants, there are a few things you need to keep in mind, otherwise, it’s an enjoyable activity for a weekend. Safety is important, so be sure to take a look at this forager’s guide.

Life Cycle and Region:

St. John’s wort is a perennial herb that’s hardy in zones 3 to 9. Although it has a wide range of USDA garden zones, I must mention that other environmental factors affect where it will grow, such as precipitation (rainfall) and general humidity.

For example, it will not grow without a GREAT deal of persistent and consistent care in the Mojave Desert and in micro-climates that must be created on purpose to fit its needs. However, if you go higher into the mountain areas of the Mojave (where the USDA zone is in reality more of a zone 5 or 6) where we lived off-grid, I was able to cultivate it very well.

It grows wild in most of the western mountain states: Idaho, Northern Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon. It may grow wild in the far northern mountains of the Nevada Great Basin area, but I’ve never seen it there. It has a wide range of growth in many other states as well.

It’s native to Asia and Europe and Northern Africa. It has naturalized on our North American continent, and many states actually consider it a noxious weed and very invasive.

Identification and Habitat:

Hypericum species (St. John’s wort) have beautiful sun-colored yellow flowers. These small flowers (about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in diameter) have five petals in a definite star pattern. Many long stamens jump from the center like a mini explosion.

There’s a light resin on the leaves and flowers—-this is the red color that oozes from the leaves and petals. You see, the petals and leaves are perforated with tiny little holes that are invisible to the naked eye….but if you hold them up to the sun, you might be able to see them.

These tiny perforations are actually ducts from which the lovely purple red color comes. A mature plant will have darker purple holes than younger flowers do, but the unfurled buds are very useful medicinally too.

My main way to positively identify the correct species of St. John’s wort is to crush the petals and buds between my fingers. If a reddish-purple dye is left on my fingers, it’s a positive identification! However, once you know this plant well, you’ll be able to identify it even before the blooms emerge.

The leaves grow opposite and are oval or lance shaped. The entire plant grows from one foot to three feet tall. Stems of flowers grow from a main stem.

Growing St. John’s Wort:

St. John’s wort grows best in poor soil and tough conditions (unless you have to baby them in Southern Nevada). If you’re in an area where it grows wild, as I am now in Idaho, you can find them growing profusely in some of the harshest places!

Seeds are the best way to grow St. John’s wort if you mean to cultivate the plant for your medicinal garden. The seeds are practically microscopic and are light dependent, so be sure to sow them on the surface of the soil. You might want to combine them in a bit of sand to sprinkle on the soil surface because you’ll reduce the number of seedlings in one place. I learned this the hard way!

Hypericum species enjoy full sun to part sun. They do love the sun!

St. John’s wort growing wild in a field.

Harvesting, Drying, and Storing:

The best time to harvest St. John’s wort is when it’s beginning to bloom. Some of the flowers should be fully open, and you’ll also be able to see buds of closed flowers. You’ll get the most medicinal benefits from harvest at this time.

The harvest window in my area in the wild is about four weeks long, for best quality plant material. Other areas may have a longer or shorter harvest window. When I cultivated it in S. Nevada in the mountains, the harvest window there was about six weeks.

Cut the stems six to 10 inches down, and I like to leave them to wilt for a day or two. Then you can garble the dried plant in order to separate the stems by using a mesh screen that has openings about half inch across. (Carpenter) However, I usually just remove the leaves with my hands.

Since the leaves also contain the medicinal oil and are perforated as well as the flowers, I like to include them, although some herbalists don’t.

NOTE: Most herbalists use the fresh plant to make their infusions, including myself. This is because the important red medicinal constituent evaporates as the plant dries. For the beautiful red oil so beloved by many, you need the slightly wilted fresh herb.

It’s disappointing to purchase the dried herb from a supplier to make your infused oil only to discover that your oil doesn’t turn red. However, the dried plant still contains plenty of medicinal properties!

Here’s a picture that shows the beginning of the oil infusing and the ready product! Look at that color difference!

How to Make St. John’s Wort Infused Oil

Trauma Oil is a well-known herbal oil in the alternative health world. It consists of oils infused with Calendula (Calendula officinalis), Arnica (Arnica montana), and St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum). It’s a prized general healing oil for inflammation, bruising, mild burns, and sore muscles. It’s quite expensive on the market, but in reality it’s easy to make.

You can find out how to make an herbal infused oil here, and you’ll see two different methods that work fine. There are a couple extra things you need to know about St. John’s wort, however, that are different than other herbs.

1) St. John’s wort is best infused fresh or freshly wilted.

2) In my opinion and experience, a bit of warmth from a sunny window helps speed the process along.

If you’re interested in infusing some freshly foraged St. John’s wort, take a look at my article on infusing herbal oils, linked above.

You can also find out what to do with St. John’s wort infused oil in my St. John’s Masterclass! But here’s a picture of St. John’s wort healing salve and a link to the article with directions

Final Thoughts on Foraging St. John’s Wort

I love foraging for wild plants! But of all of them, St. John’s wort is one I just love best of all. It’s some serious herbal alchemy to see the initial dark green olive oil turn to an incredible bright red in the jar as it progresses through the chemical changes.

I hope you get to experience this! If you have to purchase your infused oil, I suggest trying to find a local herbalist or a small herbal farmer who grows and makes their own. You’ll save some money this way, and you’ll be supporting small business!

If you enjoyed this article on foraging St. John’s wort, there are many other foraging articles on my website. You may enjoy these as well:

Foraging Cottonwood Buds and Making Balm of Gilead (article)

Foraging Cottonwood Buds (Video)

Foraging and Identifying Black Walnut for Medicine (video)

How to Forage Chaparral and Make Chaparral Salve

Survival Food to Forage: Lambsquarters

Foraging Wild Fennel and How to Make Fennel Candy

Foraging Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) and How to Make a Hydrosol in Your Kitchen Without a Still

and there are many more on the website! Go explore!

Hey! Would you like to have a FREE Herbal Remedies Guide with a handy Cheat Sheet you can keep as a reference in your kitchen or apothecary? Just click the link to grab yours!

AND, if you’d like to take the 5-Day FREE Herbal Foundations email course, you can do this too! Just click through the link below. :-)

It’s my mission to get a home herbalist in every extended family! We all deserve to have access to our traditional plant healing heritage…but someone has to get started! I hope that’s you! Learning herbs gives you an incredible legacy to leave for your children and grandchildren.

Hugs, Health, and Self-Reliance,

Heidi

P.S. Don’t forget to grab your FREE Herbal Remedy Guide and Cheat Sheet!

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, rather, I’m an herbalist and aromatherapist. In no manner, stated or implied, is any statement meant to prevent, cure, diagnose, or heal any disease. Please be sure to seek advice from a medical professional before using herbs or essential oils especially if pregnant, nursing, or you’re on medications. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.

Resources:

De la Foret, R. and Han, E.; Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. Hay House. 2020.

Gladstar, R.; Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide. Storey Publishing, 2012.

Carpenter, J. & Carpenter, M.; The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer. The Ultimate Guide to Producing High Quality Herbs on a Market Scale. Chelsea Green Publishing. 2015.

Foraging and Identifying St. John's Wort and How to Make St. John's Wort Oil