Invasiveness Assessment - Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) in Victoria
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Plant invasiveness is determined by evaluating a plant’s biological and ecological characteristics against criteria that encompass establishment requirements, growth rate and competitive ability, methods of reproduction, and dispersal mechanisms.
| Each characteristic, or criterion, is assessed against a list of intensity ratings. Depending upon information found, a rating of Low, Medium Low, Medium High or High is assigned to that criterion. Where no data is available to answer a criterion, a rating of medium (M) is applied. A description of the invasiveness criteria and intensity ratings used in this process can be viewed here. |
The following table provides information on the invasiveness of Tutsan.
A more detailed description of the methodology of the Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method can be viewed below:
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (PDF - 630 KB)
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (DOC - 1026 KB)
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Common Name: Tutsan
Scientific name: Hypericum androsaemum
| Question | Comments | Reference | Rating |
| Establishment | |||
| Germination requirements? | Seeds germinate in autumn. | P & C (1992) | MH |
| Establishment requirements? | Can tolerate shade (moderate canopy) cover. | P & C (1992) | MH |
| How much disturbance is required? | “Establishes in virtually indisturbed bushland”. | P & C (1992) | H |
| Growth/Competitive | |||
| Life form? | Erect shrub. Other. | P & C (1992) | L |
| Allelopathic properties? | None described. |  | L |
| Tolerates herb pressure? | “Unpalatable and rarely eaten”. | P & C (1992) | MH |
| Normal growth rate? | Whole hillsides may be covered to the exclusion of most other vegetation. Competes strongly with native species. | P & C (1992) | H |
| Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? | Tolerant of frost, (occurs in Mansfield, Blue Mountains- Australia: Britain, etc), water logging? (occurs in riparian vegetation). | P & C (1992) Clapham et al (1952) Carr et al (1992) | ML |
| Reproduction | |||
| Reproductive system | Reproducing by seed. | P & C (1992) | ML |
| Number of propagules produced? | Produce “large numbers “ of seeds. > 20 fruits per plant x 100 seeds - > 2,000 seeds per plant. | P & C (1992) | H |
| Propagule longevity? | ? | | M |
| Reproductive period? | Forms dense monocultures (see P & C 1992 p. 386). “Widespread, medium to large populations”. | P & C (1992) Carr et al (1992) | H |
| Time to reproductive maturity? | “Plants do not flower until they are 18 months or two years old”. | P & C (1992) | MH |
| Dispersal | |||
| Number of mechanisms? | Small seeds readily contaminate agricultural produce, vehicles, machinery, animals, water and mud. Also bird dispersed. | P & C (1992) | H |
| How far do they disperse? | Bird dispersed. | | H |
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This page was last updated on 18/08/2020.