Hypericum elodes is a flowering plant in the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Hypericum

Hypericum

Hypericum is a genus of about 400 species of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae ....

, commonly known as marsh St John's wort. It is native to Western Europe.

Description

H. elodes is a greyish, mat-forming perennial quite dissimilar to the erect stature of most other members of the genus. It has creeping stems, rooting at the nodes, and pairs of opposite hairy, pale green, rounded leaves. The yellow flowers are borne in few-flowered spikes and have a resinous scent. The five sepals are downy and the five petals are lined with red dots around the margin.

Habitat

H. elodes grows in acidic conditions, in marshy ground, in bog pools and pond margins.

Distribution

H. elodes is found growing in Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. In the United Kingdom, it occurs mostly in the north and west.