Hypericum androsaemum Tutsan

A bushy St John's-wort with large oval leaves and clusters of yellow flowers that give rise to black berries in late summer. It is common and widespread in Britain and Ireland where it grows in damp shaded places in woodland, on hedgebnaks and in the vicinity of waterfalls. The berries are eaten by frugiverous birds such as thrushes and this provides an important means of dispersal. Although it is native in the British flora, it is also cultivated and many occurrences could be garden escapes. Furthermore, it can be confused with Tall Tutsan (Hypericum x inodorum), which is larger. Tutsan is common and widely distributed in West Glamorgan, particularly in the valley woodlands of Neath Port Talbot. It contains a number of interesting phytochemicals, particularly polyphenols (e.g. chlorogenic acidsin its leaves nd shikimic acid in its berries) and some unique polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols. However unlike many other St John's-worts it does not contain the phototoxic pigment, hypericin. The leaves conatin a number of volatile monoterpene hydrocarbons (e.g. limonene ans pinene) which are found in its leaf glands and they produce a faint anise-like smell that  becomes more evident in autumn as the leaves age and senesce.

Native