English: Goldencup St. John's wort; Yellow mosqueta
Region: China, Guizhou, Sichuan; naturalized in Japan, Taiwan, India, Australia, South Africa.
Habitat: dry and open, in thickets, on scrubby slopes, on cliffs; elevations of 1200-3600 meters.
Use: ornamental.
TaxonomyHypericum patulum in Hypericum section Ascyreia.
BotanyShrubs; 0.3-1.5 meters tall; bushy fashion, with spreading branches that are sometimes weakly frondose.
Stems: 4-lined or 4-angled when young, later become 2-lined, sometimes terete.
Leaves: thick, paper-like, rather glaucous; with short laminar glands, streaks, and dots.
Inflorescence: 1-15-flowered, from 1 or 2 nodes.
Flowers: large, bright; flat-topped, with short terminal internod, branches that come from the middle of the stem.
Corolla: petals golden yellow.
Stamen: fascicles, each with 50-70 stamens; 7-12 mm; half as long as the petals.
Pollination: by bees, small birds.
Seeds: dark brown; 1-1.2 millimeters long.
Chromosome: sporophytic and gametopythic count of 18 each.