Stinking tutsan

Description

Hypericum hircinum, also known as stinking tutsan, is a shrub in Hypericum sect. Androsaemum. The species grows to be 2 meters tall. It has a branching base with grey-brown bark. Its leaves give off a goat-like scent when crushed (caproic acid). Hypericum hircinum is found around the Mediterranean, specifically in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. The species was naturalized in Britain as early as 1620. The species does not spread rapidly into natural vegetation, and so has very little spread.