Tutsan

Description:

Irish Name: Meas torc allta Tutsan is a bushy, semi-evergreen undershrub which grows to about 60cm high. It has most attractive yellow flowers (15-25mm across) which are in small, terminal clusters. The flowers have five oval petals and the stamens, which are as long as the petals, are formed into five bundles and resemble pins in a pin-cushion. They bloom from June to August. The five sepals are longer than the petals. Tutsan's leaves are oval, hairless, about 10-15cm long with tiny little translucent dots. The fruit is berry-like, beginning with a reddish colour which becomes purplish-black later in the autumn and is eaten and spread by birds. This widespread plant grows in deciduous wood, thickets and limestone pavements. It is a native plant belonging to the family Hypericaceae.

Notes:

16th century herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper wrote: 'It is a herb of Saturn and a most noble antivenereal. Tutsan purgeth choleric humours .. for therein it worketh the same effects, both to cure sciatica and gout and to heal burnings by fire'