this pretty little flower is trailing St John's wort, one of 13 different species of this perennial (hypericum) which range in size from the very small as here to the Rose of Sharon. On close up you can see the little black glands along the edge of the petal which contain various oily compounds including the compounds responsible for its antidepressant properties.
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As well as having antidepressant properties, St John's wort can produce some significant side effects, through it's ability to change the metabolism of quite a few other drugs. In extreme cases, this can render a drug ineffective. Moral: don't take herbal preparations of St John's wort without looking carefully at the contraindications. (For those who want to know, it is a relatively potent inducer of cytochrome P450 3A)
tx Deri for the pharmocological health warning, it applies in particular to women on OCP, you have been warned.
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