Medicinal oil prepared by soaking the flowers in olive oil, turning it bright red. This is used topically to promote wound healing and for bruising and strains. The hypericin-containing oil is anti-inflammatory. Internal use of the plant has received much press as antidepressant and sedative. Hypericin is apparently an MAO inhibitor because it works in a similar fashion to Prozac and similar drugs; they should not be taken concomitantly. Fresh flowers in tea, tincture, or olive oil were once a popular domestic medicine for treatment of external ulcers, wounds (especially those with severed nerve tissue), sores, cuts, and bruises. Tea is a folk remedy for bladder ailments, depression, dysentery, diarrhea, and worms. In modern research, the compounds in St. Johns Wort are being researched in the treatment of AIDS, as they have potent anti-viral activity. References: Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225 Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148 Grieve, M. (Maud). A Modern Herbal; the Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-Lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses. New York :Harcourt, Brace & company, 1931.