Hypericum androsaemum

Hypericum androsaemum
Habit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Hypericaceae
Genus:	Hypericum
Section:	Hypericum sect. Androsaemum
Species:	H. androsaemum
Binomial name
Hypericum androsaemum L.
Synonyms
Androsaemum androsaemum (L.) Huth A. floridum Salisb. A. officinale All. A. vulgare Gaertn. Hypericum bacciferum Lam. H. bacciforme Bubani H. floridum Salisb. H. webbianum G.Nicholson

Hypericum androsaemum, the shrubby St. John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. Commonly called tutsan or sweet-amber, the species is cultivated as an ornamental plant because of its striking red-tinted foliage, bright yellow petals, and its large clusters of fruit. Cultivars like 'Albury Purple' and 'Golden Tutsan' which have leaves with more pronounced purple and golden coloring, respectively.

The plant is native to Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, but has been introduced elsewhere in temperate areas with high rainfall, including Australia and New Zealand. In these countries, it is often considered a noxious weed. The plant is easily dispersed across wide ranges because of its small and numerous seeds, and methods for biological control are required to manage the species.

The species has been known since before the modern system of taxonomy was developed, and was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1763. Since then, it has been invalidly published under several synonyms, and was repeatedly placed in its own genus named Androsaemum. When Norman Robson published his monograph of the genus Hypericum in 1996, the species was definitively placed within Hypericum sect. Androsaemum, a small section including several other closely related species.