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Scientific Name
Synonyms
Family
Common Names
Origin
Cultivation
Naturalised Distribution
Habitat
Habit
Distinguishing Features
Stems and Leaves
Flowers and Fruit
Reproduction and Dispersal
Environmental Impact
Other Impacts
Legislation
Management
Similar Species
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Click on images to enlarge

habit (Photo: Trevor James)

paired leaves (Photo: Trevor James)

close-up of stem and leaves (Photo: Trevor James)

flower buds (Photo: Trevor James)

flower cluster (Photo: Matt Taylor)

flowers with numerous stamens (Photo: Trevor James)

close-up of flower showing ovary topped with three small styles (Photo: Trevor James)

close-up of young fruit (Photo: Trevor James)

close-up of immature fruit (Photo: Trevor James)

close-up of mature fruit (Photo: Trevor James)

Hypericum androsaemum

Scientific Name

Hypericum androsaemum L.

Synonyms

Androsaemum officinale All.
Androsaemum vulgare Gaert.

Family

Clusiaceae (Queensland,New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory)

Guttiferae (South Australia)

Common Names

amber, hypericum, St. John's wort tutsan, sweet amber, tutsan

Origin

This species is native to southern and western Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor (i.e. the Mediterranean region).

Cultivation

Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) has been cultivated as a garden ornamental in the temperate regions of Australia.

Naturalised Distribution

This species is most common and widespread in southern and north-eastern Victoria. It is locally abundant is some parts of Tasmania and eastern New South Wales. Also sparingly naturalised in the ACT and possibly naturalised in south-western Western Australia.

Habitat

A weed of temperate regions that prefers damp and shaded habitats. It is usually found in closed forests, forest margins, open woodlands, waterways, waste areas and sometimes also in pastures.

Habit

A small, upright (i.e. erect), long-lived (i.e. perennial) shrub usually growing 0.3-1 m tall, but occasionally reaching up to 1.5 m or more in height.

Distinguishing Features

Stems and Leaves

The stems are slender, somewhat woody and with two ridges or small 'wings'. Several of these branching stems usually emerge from a woody crown at the base of the plant each year. The tips of these stems are usually reddish in colour when young.

The leaves (3.5-15 cm long and 3-8 cm wide) are usually bright green in colour, but often have a distinct reddish hue during autumn. These leaves are oppositely arranged along the stems, hairless (i.e. glabrous), and stalkless or stem-clasping (i.e. sessile). They are either egg-shaped in outline (i.e. ovate), oval (i.e. elliptic) or oblong and have entire margins. Crushed leaves give off a distinctive 'curry-like' smell.

Flowers and Fruit

The yellow flowers (1.5-3 cm across) are borne in small clusters, each containing 2-15 flowers, at the tips of the branches. They have five petals (6-12 mm long) and five persistent greenish-coloured sepals that are nearly as long as the petals. Each flower also has numerous stamens and an ovary topped with three styles. Flowering occurs during spring and summer.

The fruit are initially green but turn red and then purplish or black in colour as they mature. They are fleshy, globular berries (7-12 mm across) containing numerous seeds. These seeds are brown in colour, ridged, and about 1 mm long.

Reproduction and Dispersal

This species reproduces by seed. These seeds may be dispersed by vehicles, machinery and water, but are most commonly spread by birds and other animals that eat the fruit. They may also be spread in mud, contaminated agricultural produce and dumped garden waste.

Environmental Impact

Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) is regarded as a significant environmental weed in Victoria and as an environmental weed in New South Wales and Tasmania. It is also seen as a potential environmental weed in Western Australia and is listed as a priority environmental weed in two Natural Resource Management regions.

This species is a serious weed of temperate rainforests, moist sclerophyll forests, open woodlands and riparian areas in temperate Australia. It often form dense stands that smother the ground flora and smaller shrubs in the understorey of native bushland. Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) tolerates deep shade and prefers damp, shaded sites and forest edges, but can also establish in open, sunny locations. It competes strongly with native species can invade undisturbed bushland. Whole hillsides may be covered to the exclusion of most other vegetation.

Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) is currently of most concern in Victoria, where it is regarded as a serious threat to damp and wet sclerophyll forests, warm and cool temperate rainforests and riparian vegetation. This species appears on several environmental weed lists in Victoria (e.g. in Colac Otway Shire, the Shire of Yarra Ranges, Nillumbik Shire, Knox City, Banyule City, Kingston City and the Goulburn Broken Catchment) and has been declared noxious in some regions. It is common in the Otway, Strzelecki and Dandenong Ranges and has invaded several conservation areas in this region (e.g. Sherbrooke Forest and Morwell National Park). For example, a one location near Mansfield, it is the dominant species extending from a roadside for several hundred metres into native bushland, greatly reducing the density of native species.

In New South Wales, tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) is mainly of concern in the wider Sydney and Blue Mountains region. It is listed as an alert weed in the Sydney North region and is a weed of bushland and conservation areas in the Blue Mountains area (e.g. in Pitt Park and in the Jenolan Caves Reserve). Infestations of tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) have also been reported in Kosciuszko National Park, in southern New South Wales.

Other Impacts

Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) encroaches into overgrazed pastures in Victoria. It is also suspected of poisoning cattle in New Zealand, and of causing skin ailments in livestock.

Legislation

This species is declared under legislation in the following states and territories:

Management

For information on the management of this species see the following resources:

Similar Species

Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) is very similar to flair tutsan (Hypericum x inodorum) and relatively similar to St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), Canary Island St. John's wort (Hypericum canariense), St. Peter's wort (Hypericum tetrapterum) and tangled hypericum (Hypericum triquetrifolium). These species can be distinguished by the following differences:

There are other native and naturalised Hypericum species in Australia, however these plants are usually smaller in stature and their fruit are dry capsules.