Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Dodonaea
Species: D. viscosa
Binomial name: Dodonaea viscosa
Synonyms: Dodonaea viscosa var. angustifolia, Dodonaea viscosa f. angustifolia, Dodonaea viscosa subsp. Angustifolia, Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima.
Common name: Akeake, Hopbush, Sticky hopbush, Switch sorrel,
The Maori name for the shrub, akeake, means "forever and ever".
Dodonaea viscosa is Indigenous. New Zealand: Three Kings, North, South and Chatham Islands and is now widespread throughout the world. Dodonaea viscosa is New Zealand's sole species of the genus: Dodonaea. It is a shrub growing >3 m tall, and rarely >9 m tall. The leaves are simple elliptical, 4–7.5 cm long and 1–1.5 cm broad, alternate in arrangement, and they secrete a resinous substance. Hence a common name Sticky Hopbush. A study of leaves yielded carbohydrates, flavonoids, fixed oil, proteins and amino acids, saponins, steroids and sterols, tannins, and triterpenoids.
The flowers (7mm) are dioecious; small, yellow-green, lacking petals. The male and female flowers are generally on different trees. The yellow to orange-red flowers are yellow to orange-red and are produced on panicles about 2.5 cm in length. Flowering occurs spring to mid-summer.
The fruit is a capsule (1.5 cm wide) with thin, flat, papery, rounded wings. This 3 sided pod contains 3 dark brown or black seeds. The pod is green, ageing to pink to tan. The fruits have been used as a substitute for hops.
The bark separates into long stripes. The wood is extremely tough and durable, and New Zealand's Maori have used Akeake to fashion clubs and other weapons.
A branch is laden with flowers (March)
An adult tree
A young tree planted on a sub-division end of Smiths Road, New Plymouth. Photographed early February,
The upstanding leaves.
Male flowers November.
Developing winged fruit.
Pale yellow winged fruits
Winged fruit capsules.
The dried wing fruit.
The top surface of a leaf.
The surface of a young leaf.
The underside of a leaf.
Sometimes the leaves can have a reddish tinge.
The trunk of a young tree.
Trunk of a mature Akeake
Below is Dodonaea viscosa 'Purpurea' (Purple-leafed Hop-bush) which is a cultivar. It is a rapidly growing, evergreen shrub reaches 4m in height. It is more upright when young and spreading out with age (2m). It has lanceolate bronzy-green 10 cm long leaves which turn purple in cooler weather. Tolerates some shade but the colour is better if grown in full sun. Tiny green flowers in clusters mid-summer followed by brown maple-like seed capsules in late summer.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
