It is made up of Hypericum androsaemum (its type species), H. foliosum, H. grandifolium, and H. hircinum, as well as the hybrid H. × inodorum.

The Latin name Androsaemum comes from a Greek work to describe plants with red sap, and literally means "blood-man".

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.

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.

[1] The common name tutsan is French in origin, and derives from the phrase tout-saine, which means heal-all, in reference to the medicinal properties of the plants.

It was stated to have one species known in England referred to as Androsæmum maximum frutescens,[3] which was later synonymized with Hypericum androsaemum.

Using the sexual system of Linneaus, Allioni placed the genus as most closely related to Hypericum and Croton.

Triadenioides H. canariense H. bupleuroides H. androsaemum H. hircinum H. foliosum H. grandifolium Norman Robson included Hypericum sect.

Androsaemum was described in the 1985 installation of his monograph on the genus, in which its common characteristics were outlined, and a key was given for its four species and one hybrid.

[12] In 2010, cladistic analysis suggested that Androsaemum was a part of a clade called the "Myriandra-Ascyreia" group, which included those sections and several other species.

Additionally, some cultivated forms of the plant were called H. × persistens, while specimens found on the island of Madeira have been confused with H.

The seed capsule has a leathery or papery texture, and either partially or completely dries and cracks open.

[11] However, a 2006 study found that there may be variability in the chromosome number in every species of the section, with counts of 2n = 32 being regularly reported.

H. hircinum is found in dry open areas, while all other species prefer damp shady places.

Species are found in Macaronesia, Northwest Africa, Western and Southern Europe, Greece, Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran, Turkmenistan, the Levant, and Saudi Arabia.

For example, H. androsaemum has been dispersed across Australia and New Zealand after being introduced by the Royal Horticultural Society,[2] while H. grandifolium is rapidly spreading in the San Francisco Bay Area and is displacing native species.

[35] This propensity for invasiveness is likely due to their ability to quickly colonize open spaces, like H. foliosum in deposits of volcanic ash and man-made clearings.