NHD53/43

Chinese St. John's Wort

Hypericum monogynum L.; Clusiaceae family

Original inscriptions: 金絲海棠 (front lower left in ink); 四月開 (reverse lower left in ink); Kum-Seu-hoi-tong (reverse lower right in pencil)

Further inscriptions: H. Sh. (front lower left in ink); Hypericum monogynum (front lower right in pencil)

One erect, nodose, light brown branch with numerous opposite leaves. Leaf blade obovate with entire margins. At the top of the central branch, one big bloomed, front-facing yellow flower with five obovate petals and prominent numerous stamens, one erect pistil with dotted stigma. Behind the open flowers, five elongated buds, showing pale yellow closed petals, and green pointy sepals, fuchsia pedicel. On the right, a secondary leafy twig, leaves mostly seen from the back, showing a lighter green colour; two flower buds and one open flower, showing stamens between each distanced petal. Lower left: a small pink twig bearing fruits. Fruit capsules arranged on a terminal cyme. Fruit bracts are grey-purple, fruit of ovoid shape, dark reddish to purple-greyish colour. One dissected fruit depicted on the lower left, showing internal densely seeded flesh, one small seed dissected on its right. Lower right: dissected depiction of six orange stamens, one long pistil, pink pedicel with five green sepals, and five big oblong yellow petals.