Yellow Hypericum

Himalayan Foothills, India · nature

Bright yellow hypericum blooms among dark green leaves — five petals, a fountain of stamens, and the patience of a hedge plant doing its work.

Hypericum bushes are everywhere in the Indian foothills — used as hedging, used as ornamentals, used as nothing in particular by the side of paths. The leaves are dark and disciplined; the flowers are absurdly cheerful for a plant that is otherwise so well-behaved. Each bloom only lasts a day or two, but the bush keeps producing them through the monsoon and beyond.

This pair had opened in the same morning. The stamens fan out from the centre like a starburst, and the petals catch the sun like five small mirrors. I didn't have to compose it — the flowers had done that themselves, with the dark leaves behind acting as a stage. Some plants seem to understand photography and arrange themselves to be photographed. Hypericum is the most cooperative I've met.

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