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Glite Dictionary
Hypericum hypericoides

Hypericum hypericoides

9.9
A low shrub with yellow four-petaled flowers that grows in warm coastal areas
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : hipérico de cuatro pétalos
  • We identified the shrub as Hypericum hypericoides by its distinctive yellow, four-petaled flowers.

Examples

  • The garden featured several specimens of Hypericum hypericoides in full bloom.

  • The Hypericum hypericoides blooms beautifully in the spring.

  • Botanists observed that Hypericum hypericoides prefers sandy soils in the southeast US.

  • We identified the shrub as Hypericum hypericoides by its distinctive yellow cross-shaped flowers.

  • Have you seen the Hypericum hypericoides in the garden?

  • The garden featured several specimens of Hypericum hypericoides with bright yellow flowers.

  • Botanists observed that Hypericum hypericoides thrives in sandy soils found in the southeastern United States.

Synonyms

low St Andrew's cross
vsHypericum hypericoides
  • US
9.9

A low plant with yellow flowers that have four petals in a cross

is the same low shrub but notes only four petals not the cross shape

Surface Forms

Hypericum hypericoides singular
Hypericum hypericoides plural

Morphology

Hypericum + hypericoides

This is a Linnaean binomial (genus + specific epithet), so a learner who recognises 'Hypericum' as a plant genus and the pattern genus+name can infer it denotes a particular species of Hypericum. However, the specific epithet 'hypericoides' is specialized/Latinized and does not convey the detailed descriptive properties (low shrub, yellow four-petaled flowers, native range) to a B1 learner, so the meaning is only partially predictable.

Etymology

Hypericum hypericoides comes from the older plant name Hypericum for St John's wort and the ending -oides, which means 'like'. So the full name simply says the shrub 'looks like' other Hypericum plants with small yellow flowers, and that is why botanists use this name.