A shrub to about 3 ft high with arching branches; upper intcrnodes of stems distinctly four-lined to slightly four-angled. Leaves sessile, ovate to broad-ovate, mostly 11⁄2 to 25⁄8 in. long, 1 to 17⁄8 in. wide, obtuse to subacute and sometimes apiculate at the apex, broad-cuneate to rounded at the base, the leaves immediately below the inflorescence stem-clasping and slightly cordate at the base. Inflorescence much branched and corymb-like, with up to nineteen flowers. Buds ovoid, obtuse, 3⁄4 to 7⁄8 in. long. Flowers clear yellow, about 21⁄4 in. across. Sepals erect or slightly spreading, rather unequal in length and width, oblong or elliptic. Stamens in five bundles, about as long as the petals to almost three-quarters as long. Styles about as long as the ovary or slightly longer.
This striking hypericum, described by Dr Robson in 1970 (Journ. R.H.S., Vol. 95 (1970), p. 495), was found by Augustine Henry in S. Yunnan, China, in 1898, but when or how it reached cultivation is not known. It has already turned up in a number of gardens, usually grown under the erroneous name “H. leschenaultii”, but it is not yet possible to assess its hardiness. From all other cultivated species it is distinguished by the large, stem-clasping leaves of the upper part of the stem.