Spotted St. John’s-wort

Hypericum punctatum

Pollinator Value

🐛 Larval Host: Synchlora aerata, Nedra ramosula, Cryptocala acadiensis, Phlogophora iris, Hyppa xylinoides, Nemoria bistriaria, Zale lunata, Eupithecia subfuscata, Melanchra assimilis
S13+S15 9 verified Eastern NA
❄️ Winter Food Source: Seeds of Hypericum are consumed by Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), comprising approximately 2% of diet by weight or volume. Seeds are small (0.046-0.06 g per 1000 seeds) but produced in moderate abundance.
S57 Ring-necked Duck 1.95% diet; S44 seed weight 0.046-0.06g/1000

Proximity Score: 0
Native Status: ✅ Outaouais ✅ Ottawa ✅ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: Local
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.2 – Mixed Wood Shield, 5.2.3 – Algonquin/Southern Laurentians
Rarity Notes: Ranked S3 (Vulnerable) in Quebec but S5 (Secure) in Ontario and G5 globally. Not listed under SARA or COSEWIC. The species is uncommon in the Ottawa region according to the Brunton Ottawa Flora 2005. Quebec herbarium specimens (20 in CNH/MT) span from 1987 to 2018 across southern Quebec.
S22 ranks; S26 SARA not listed; S62 Uncommon Ottawa; S54 20 QC specimens
Rarity Ranks: QC S3 – Vulnerable, ON S5 – Secure
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: Spotted St. John's-wort occupies marshy or swampy ground, stream banks, forest borders, and dry to moist fields. In the Ottawa-Gatineau region it is uncommon, ranked S3 (Vulnerable) in Quebec. Michigan Flora records it in mesic forests with Quercus bicolor and Acer saccharinum, floodplain woods, and open disturbed fields.
S7 habitats; S62 Uncommon in Ottawa; S22 QC rank S3

Roles: Fire Retardant, Pollinator Attractor
S73/S29/S72 Evidence: Fire Retardant: S73 [MEDIUM]: S11 Fire Tolerance = Medium (not definitional)] | Pollinator Attractor: S73 [MEDIUM]: S68 3 bee associations (threshold=3)]

Category: Drug
S28 Meskwaki Drug (Unspecified)
Notes: The Meskwaki (Fox) people used a compound containing the root as a medicine, the specific application unspecified. Related species H. perforatum is widely known medicinally, but ethnobotanical records for H. punctatum are limited to this single Meskwaki use documented by Huron H. Smith (1928).
S28 Meskwaki Drug, compound containing root

❌ Not Edible

Foraging Notes: Not edible. USDA rates palatability to humans as No. Moerman's Native American Ethnobotany records no food uses for this species. The foliage is reported as mildly toxic to mammals.
S11 Palatable Human=No; S28 no food category; S46 foliage mildly toxic to mammals