St. John’s Wort

Hypericum perforatum

HRB-0162Entry “ST. JOHN’S WORT” in the 1850 textIn Culpeper’s 1652 first edition

Open in the Concordance

Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.

Substance of concernThe EMA accepts it for mild to moderate depression (well-established use). It weakens many prescription medicines.EFSA: hyperforin, hypericin, pseudohypericin and 1 moreEFSA’s list of substances, not a danger rating. Checked 26 October 2026.

Historical correspondence. Ruled by Sun, by Culpeper. A traditional astrological assignment, kept apart from the modern evidence; it is not a finding.

What it does, in Culpeper: Stops vomiting

Culpeper’s claims about it: 9, under 9 headings, 1 where he says it harms or causes

  1. AguesCLM-000033
    The decoction of the leaves and seeds drank somewhat warm before the fits of agues, whether they be tertains or quartans, alters the fits, and, by often using, doth take them quite away.
    QUO-000033Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  2. Bleeding (to stay)CLM-000167
    The decoction of the herb and flowers, especially of the seed, being drank in wine, with the juice of knot-grass, helps all manner of vomiting and spitting of blood, is good for those that are bitten or stung by any venomous creature, and for those that cannot make water.
    QUO-000144Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  3. BruisesCLM-000370
    boiled in wine and drank, it heals inward hurts or bruises;
    QUO-000315Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  4. Falling SicknessCLM-000729
    The seed is much commended, being drank for forty days together, to help the sciatica, the falling-sickness, and the palsy.
    QUO-000578Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  5. Stings and Venomous BitesCLM-0024221850 index, p. 99
    The decoction of the herb and flowers, especially of the seed, being drank in wine, with the juice of knot-grass, helps all manner of vomiting and spitting of blood, is good for those that are bitten or stung by any venomous creature, and for those that cannot make water.
    QUO-000144Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  6. StomachCLM-001605
    Two drams of the seed of St. John’s Wort made into powder, and drank in a little broth, doth gently expel choler or congealed blood in the stomach.
    QUO-001059Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  7. SwellingsCLM-001807
    made into an ointment, it open obstructions, dissolves swellings, and closes up the lips of wounds.
    QUO-001154Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  8. Vomiting (to stay)CLM-002037
    The decoction of the herb and flowers, especially of the seed, being drank in wine, with the juice of knot-grass, helps all manner of vomiting and spitting of blood, is good for those that are bitten or stung by any venomous creature, and for those that cannot make water.
    QUO-000144Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  9. WoundsCLM-002200
    It is a singular wound herb;
    QUO-001372Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance

Source

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, a new edition (London: Thomas Kelly, 1850). Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. SRC-CUL-1850

Quotations are verbatim from the 1850 text, line breaks joined. Modern research and the European regulator’s verdict on each claim are on the Concordance page, kept apart from this historical record.