With its golden yellow flowers, it stands out clearly even when viewed from afar. But the leaves are also interesting. Once you have a look at it, you can easily recognize St. John's wort!
What do St. John's wort leaves look like?
St. John's wort leaves are oval, smooth, hairless and medium green in color. The black and translucent dots on the leaves are striking: the black dots are oil glands with essential oils, while the translucent dots represent gaps in the leaf tissue.
External characteristics of the leaves
St. John's wort can be easily identified by its leaves. The individual leaves are arranged in an opposing arrangement around the stem or stems. They are rather small, measuring between 1 and 3 (less often up to 4 cm).
The leaves are structured or designed as follows:
- oval to egg-shaped
- rounded at the end
- rounded to wedge-shaped at the base
- smooth texture
- thin
- hairless
- full margin
- almost sitting on the stems
- colored medium green
Take a closer look – dots become visible
At first glance, the leaves seem inconspicuous. But upon closer inspection, something becomes clear: the leaves have black dots on the one hand and translucent dots on the other. You can see this especially when you pick a leaf and hold it up to the sunlight.
Tracking the points
The translucent dots that appear on the leaf blade are gaps in the leaf tissue. They arise because of the black dots. But what are the black dots? The black dots are mainly distributed on the edges of the leaves. They are oil glands or oil containers. They contain the essential oils of St. John's wort.
Harvest the leaves – when and how?
Not only St. John's wort flowers are collected for medicinal purposes. You can also harvest the leaves! The best time is before and during flowering. It is best to pick the entire stems and dry them at home in a dark place.
Ideas for using the leaves
You can do a lot with the leaves. For example, you can use them to make tinctures, oils and tea. For the tincture you need 45% alcohol (€30.00 on Amazon). For an oil, a neutral-tasting oil such as rapeseed oil or sunflower oil should be used as a base.
Tip
You can also try the leaves straight from the plant. However, they are very bitter and therefore rather unpalatable for the majority of people.
