Tutsan - Hypericum androsaemum

Description

Semi evergreen, hairless shrub to 70 cm. Stems with two raised lines. Leaves opposite, oval to oblong and unstalked. Flowers pale yellow, 18 to 22 mm in small terminal clusters.

Similar Species

There are several other shrubby Hypericum, all garden escapes.  The hybrid with Stinking Tutsan (Hypericum x inodorum) has petals longer than sepals and a faint unpleasant smell when bruised, and the cultivated variety 'Elstead', with red fruits, is frequently planted.  

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Woody plant; 3 styles; sepals persistent until fruit ripens; petals shorter than or as long as sepals

Recording advice

A photo of the plant with details of flowers/fruit

Habitat

Often in damp or shaded habitats including deciduous woodland and hedgerows, often on disturbed ground or near to habitation.

When to see it

June to August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Occasional in Britain, and often as a garden escape, but native in some parts of Britain.

VC55 Status

Uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland where it is usually found as a garden escape. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 3 of the 617 tetrads.

In the current checklist, (Jeeves 2011) it is listed as Alien, rare

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Tutsan
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Malpighiales
Family:
Hypericaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
24
First record:
01/07/2012 (Skevington, Mark)
Last record:
19/11/2023 (Graves, Hazel)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

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