Reclining St. Andrew's Cross is a native perennial, low-growing, shrub in the St. John's Wort Family (Hypericaceae). In nature, it is found in the central and eastern United States and is common to the dry woodlands of the North Carolina mountains and Piedmont. The stems grow up to 1 foot long and are erect to recumbent, many-branched from the base and matt forming. It can be found usually growing in somewhat acidic sandy loams in forest edges, streambanks, pond margins, roadsides, and disturbed areas. The Genus name is from the Greek: hyper, meaning “above” and eikon, meaning “image,” referring to the practice of hanging these flowers above icons. The subspecies name multicaule means many-branched. The species epithet stragulum refers to the reclining, straggling habit of this plant. This plant will tolerate most moist to dry well-drained soils in full sun to partial shade. Best blooming occurs in full sun. The small bright yellow flowers appear during the summer and attract pollinators. It reproduces by seed. Use this plant in the native pollinator garden, meadows, forest edges and pond edges. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No significant problems. It is fairly short-lived.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
1" long simple, opposite, entire margins, oblanceolate to linear, wider at the tips than the middle, with glands on leaf surface. Leaves are sessile (no stems).
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Cyme
Flower shape
Cross
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
Four sepals and four narrow yellow petals each a 1/2 inch long form an X shape. They appear in groups of 1-3 in the upper leaf axils and have multiple long stamens. Flowers bloom from June to August.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
Oval capsules taper abruptly to the short beaks and contain numerous seeds. Fruit displays from July to November.
Stem color
Brown/Copper; Red/Burgundy
Stem detail
Younger stems are dark red. Older stems are woody and angular with ridges.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
Eastern North America.
Distribution
AL, AR, DC, DE , GA , IL , KS , KY , LA , MA , MD , MO , MS , NC , NJ , NY , OH , OK , PA , SC , TN , TX , VA
Wildlife value
This plant attracts birds, bees, and other pollinators.