Rose-of-Sharon

Appearance

It is a low, creeping, evergreen woody shrub to about 1 m tall and 1–2 m wide but often smaller. The green, ovate leaves grow in opposite pairs. Usually 4 inches long, the undersides of the leaves are net-veined. In the sun, the leaves are a vibrant green color, and in shade, the leaves are a lighter yellow-green. The underside of the leaves is a blue-green color and in the fall, the leaves take on a purple color.

The flowers are 3–5 cm in diameter, a rich yellow, with five petals and numerous yellow stamens. Its flowers can be described as “rose-like” and tend to be single or in units of two or three, flowering in June to September.

It is indigenous to southeast Europe and southwest Asia. It is a popular, semi-evergreen garden shrub with many named cultivars and hybrids derived from it.

Although the genus is generally not affected by rust fungi, it can appear on ''H. calycinum'' .

Naming

In North America the name Rose of Sharon is applied to a species in a different order, ''Hibiscus syriacus.''

The common name of St. John's wort, which is used to describe plants of the entire genus, arose from the old tradition of ''Hypericum'' plants being burned on the eve of St. John's Day, to stave off evil spirits. The species name, ''calycinum'', comes from the flower's prominent calyx, the whorl of the sepals.