Tutsan

Russ writes:

Tutsan....not a name one would assume belongs to a native plant, but this is the name given to a shrub that I've encountered recently both in my Woodlands garden and in the nearby inclosures. It is a member of the St John's Wort (Hypericum) family, and stands out at this time of year virtue of its retained oval-shaped leaves and blackish berries, which are at best inedible and at worst poisonous to us, but are apparently taken by birds (although the ones I've seen haven't been touched yet). The picture below was taken today along a damp shady woodland ride with Brambles and Bracken, which is typical habitat for the species, although I guess there is always a chance of it being dispersed from nearby gardens. There is a nice account of it's interesting features in this blog entry:

https://bugwomanlondon.com/2017/06/14/wednesday-weed-tutsan/ 

While poking around in the inclosures, I recorded Crossbill, Raven and Lesser Redpoll, and found this abandoned Hunter welly stuck in the mud - perhaps an appropriate symbol for what must be our wettest winter for some time. It presumably resulted in an uncomfortable walk home for the unfortunate individual, although if they can afford to leave a Hunter welly stuck in the mud they can't be doing too badly!