shrubby St. Johnswort
Hypericum prolificum
A genus split is not a placement verdict.
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Shrubby St.
Johnswort is generally rated fire resistant, but one eastern Firewise selector places it in the “At Risk” category.
Virginia Tech gives the shrub its low-flammability rating, the favorable end of a three-point scale used to guide planting choices around woodland homes. It also calls the plant excellent for dry, heavy soils. A compiled list from Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia likewise describes shrubby St. Johnswort as relatively resistant to fire and among plants with stronger resistance to wildfire ignition. That list offers no comparative scale or plant-specific method, so it supports the verdict without showing how strongly this shrub differs from its neighbors.
The USDA Forest Service and state Firewise programs provide the dissenting view. Their four-step selector rates the plant “At Risk” at 3, one step above “Not Firewise.” That category does not convert neatly into Virginia Tech’s low-flammability grade because the two tools use different scales and were assembled for different regional programs.
Taken together, the findings lean toward fire resistance, but not unanimously. This roughly four-foot shrub, native across broad parts of the eastern and central United States, has two favorable assessments and one clear caution. For landscaping near a home, the safest reading is that shrubby St. Johnswort has credible fire-resistant support, while its “At Risk” rating argues against treating that label as a guarantee.
- Form
- shrub
- Mature height
- ~4 ft
- Light
- Full sun
- Water need
- high
- Rated in
- Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; eastern US