#3754 - Hypericum androsaemum - Tutsan
AKA shrubby St. John's wort or sweet-amber, and repeatedly placed in it's own genus Androsaemum, and redescribed as multiple species in both. Hypericum derives from the Greek for "above pictures" refers to the practice of hanging the flower above icons to ward off evil spirits. Androsaemum comes from the Greek for "man's blood" as used to describe plants with red sap. Tutsan derives from the French phrase tout-saine, 'heal-all', in reference to the plant's alleged medicinal properties. Sweet-amber refers to the ambergris-like aroma when the red oil glands on the leaves are crushed
Native to Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and a weed everywhere else where it was grown as an ornamental. The seed and leaf-tip eating moth Lathronympha strigana and the leaf-feeding beetle Chrysolina abchasica show promise as biological control agents.
Uniquely for the genus, Tutsan berries stay fleshy and turn black when ripe.
Woodhaugh Gardens, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand










