Hypericum sect. Androsaemum

Hypericum sect. Androsaemum
Hypericum androsaemum, the type species of the section
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Hypericaceae
Genus:	Hypericum
Section:	Hypericum sect. Androsaemum (Duhamel) Godron
Type species
Hypericum androsaemum L.
Species
H. androsaeumum L. H. foliosum Aiton H. grandifolium Choisy H. hircinum L. H. × inodorum Mill.

Androsaemum, commonly called tutsan, is a section of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae. It is made up of Hypericum androsaemum (its type species), H. foliosum, H. grandifolium, and H. hircinum, as well as the hybrid H. × inodorum. When it was first described, it was considered its own independent genus, but was later placed under Hypericum and demoted to a section. It is also the namesake of an "Androsaemum-group" of related taxa that includes several other sections of Old World species. The Latin name Androsaemum comes from a Greek work to describe plants with red sap, and literally means "blood-man".

The members of Androsaemum are deciduous shrubs of medium size. They are characterized by their lack of hairs and by not having small dark glands. Plants possess clusters of many yellow flowers, each of which has several dozen male reproductive stamens, as well as a seed capsule that regularly dry out and split open. Extracts taken from the species have diverse profiles of essential oils. These are made up mostly of organic compounds consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon, but they also sometimes contain high amounts of other chemicals.

The habitat of most of the species is in evergreen forests, and all but H. hircinum prefer damp shady areas. There are no species in Androsaemum that are considered to be in danger of extinction, and the section is distributed widely across Europe, Africa, and Western Asia. Its species have become invasive in numerous locations after escaping from gardens in non-native environments, including in Australia, California, and much of Western Europe.