It is the end of June - the best time to collect St. John's wort. It should be easy to recognize by its flowers. But beware: there are plants that look extremely similar to it and one of which is even highly toxic!
St. John's wort has exactly five petals, which - in contrast to the narrow, elongated petals of ragwort - are rather rounded
St. John's Wort and Ragwort - very similar
The highly poisonous ragwort is similar to the medicinal St. John's wort. Anyone who is not really familiar with St. John's wort and is looking for it in a meadow, for example, should be careful! At first glance, the poisonous ragwort looks like St. John's wort. A closer look reveals that they are quite different.
Ragwort is dangerous because it contains alkaloids. Liver damage can occur after consumption of this herb. In extreme cases, poisoning ends fatally. The leaves, stems, roots and flowers are poisonous.
Different leaves
You can tell these two plants apart by looking at their leaves. St. John's wort has extremely distinctive leaves when you take a closer look. They have translucent, point-like spots. When crushed, they give off a reddish juice.
The leaves of Jacob's ragwort are completely different from the small, ovate, smooth-edged and opposite leaves of St. John's wort:
- greater
- form a rosette in the first year
- simply pinnate
- bluntly pointed
Different flowers
While the flowering time of both herbs is the same, the flowers look different. The inflorescence of Jacob's ragwort is richly branched like that of St. John's wort. But the individual flowers look different. The flowers are composed of ray florets and tubular florets. This means that the flowers of ragwort are more similar to those of daisies or marigolds.
It is also striking that the flowers of St. John's wort have only 5 petals. These are broad and round in shape. Ragwort, on the other hand, has more than 5 petals. With him they are narrower and longer.
Another candidate for confusion: Wiesenpippau
Furthermore, the harmless meadow pippau looks similar to St. John's wort. But there are also certain differences here:
- less leafy
- Flowers are more like dandelion
- Leaves are much larger
- blooms from May
tips
If you are not 100% sure that it is St. John's wort, do not collect the plant!