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Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum)

Introduced to Australia as a garden plant, Tutsan is now a serious environmental and agricultural weed in the south-east. It can form dense thickets that smother native vegetation and prevent native plants from regenerating.

Key facts

Type: Weed, shrub.

Native to: Western and southern Europe, extending east to Turkey and Iran.

Established in: NSW, ACT, VIC, TAS.

Other names: Sweet Amber.

Best time to act: Look for flowers mainly from October to March and treat in spring before fruit develops.

Identification

  • Tutsan is a soft-wooded shrub that grows up to 1.5 m high and is usually curry-scented.
  • Its hairless green or red stems tend to arch with age, and its opposite leaves are oval, 2–12 cm long, green above and paler below, often with red blotches.
  • Yellow flowers, about 2–3 cm wide, grow in clusters of 3–15 at branch tips.
  • Its fleshy, roughly spherical fruits are about 1 cm wide, changing from green to red and then purple-black as they mature.
  • Look-alike: Tall Tutsan has oval fruits with domed or pointed tops, unlike Tutsan’s roughly spherical fruits with flat or slightly depressed tops.
  • Look-alike: Rose of Sharon has much larger flowers; Canary Island St. John’s Wort is taller with narrower leaves; and Square-stem St. John’s Wort has square stems, unlike Tutsan’s cylindrical stems.

Where it grows

In Australia it occurs mainly in wetter parts of Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and the ACT, especially in cool, moist forests, along roadsides, beside watercourses and in adjoining pastures; it is doubtfully naturalised at Albany in Western Australia.

Why it matters

  • In damp and wet sclerophyll forest, riparian vegetation and warm and cool temperate rainforest, Tutsan can form dense stands that smother and out-compete native plants.
  • It can out-compete ground-layer species and smaller shrubs and inhibit the regeneration of native vegetation.
  • It invades pastures, especially when they have been overgrazed, and may displace most other plants.

How it spreads

  • Tutsan was introduced as a garden ornamental in the late 1800s and spread from cultivation.
  • Birds and other animals, including foxes, spread its seeds.
  • Seeds also spread by water and as contaminants of soil, vehicles, machinery and agricultural produce.

Control options

  • In bushland, treat plants in spring before fruit develops; hand-pull or dig them out and remove the roots to prevent regrowth.
  • In agricultural areas, large patches can be ploughed in autumn and cultivated whenever new growth appears.
  • Where physical removal is difficult or minimal soil disturbance is desired, use the cut-paint method with registered herbicides; selective or non-selective herbicide spraying is also described, with selective herbicides generally giving better results.
  • Avoid herbicide treatment in winter when plants are semi-dormant, and safely dispose of pulled, dug or cut material bearing semi-ripe or ripe fruit; the rust fungus Melampsora hypericorum is established and impacts Tutsan in Australia.

Hygiene and washdown

  • Seeds can be carried in soil, on vehicles and machinery, and in agricultural produce, so avoid moving contaminated material from infested sites.
  • Inspect and clean vehicles, plant and footwear before leaving an infested area, paying attention to tyres, radiators, belly plates, tracks and floor mats.
  • Wash down at a designated bay where runoff is contained and can be monitored for seedlings.
  • Record each washdown so the client has evidence of clean entry and exit.

Classification by state

  • Australia (national): No national listing. Managed under state and territory law.
  • Queensland: Not prohibited or restricted. Not listed as prohibited or restricted matter in Queensland. Everyone must also take all reasonable and practical steps to minimise its risks (the general biosecurity obligation).
  • New South Wales: Regional priority in 1 of 11 regions. Regional priority weed in Central Tablelands. The general biosecurity duty applies: anyone dealing with it must prevent, eliminate or minimise the risk it poses.
  • Victoria: Regionally controlled / restricted weed (varies by region). Where it is regionally controlled, landowners must take all reasonable steps to prevent its growth and spread on their land. Where it is a restricted weed, trade in it (including the plant, its seed or contaminated material) is prohibited.
  • South Australia: Not declared. Not declared under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019. Other laws may still apply.
  • Western Australia: Declared pest (C1), prohibited. C1 Exclusion: to be kept out of WA, or out of the parts of WA where it is not established. Report any sighting to DPIRD. It must not be brought into WA (prohibited organism).
  • Tasmania: Not declared. Not a declared weed in Tasmania. Other laws may still apply.
  • Northern Territory: Not declared. Not on the NT A to Z weed list, and Weeds Australia does not list it as declared in the NT. Check the NT declared weeds list before moving or planting it.
  • Australian Capital Territory: Not declared. Not declared under the Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT). A general biosecurity duty still applies.

Legal obligations

Every state and territory places a duty on landholders and people working on land to prevent the spread of invasive species, such as the general biosecurity obligation in Queensland and the general biosecurity duty in New South Wales. Declarations and control requirements differ between states and local government areas, so check the current official list before work starts.

  • New South Wales: Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW), administered by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
  • Australian Capital Territory: Biosecurity Act 2023 (ACT), administered by ACT Biosecurity
  • Victoria: Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 (Vic), administered by Agriculture Victoria
  • Tasmania: Biosecurity Act 2019 (Tas), administered by Biosecurity Tasmania

Sources