| Dodonaea viscosa | |
|---|---|
| Foliage and flowers | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Sapindaceae |
| Genus: | Dodonaea |
| Species: | D. viscosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Dodonaea viscosa Jacq.[1] |
|
Dodonaea viscosa is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, that has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa, the Americas, southern Asia and Australasia.
Contents |
D. viscosa is a shrub growing to 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) tall,[2] rarely a small tree to 9 m (30 ft) tall. The leaves are simple elliptical, 4–7.5 cm (1.6–3.0 in) long and 1–1.5 cm (0.39–0.59 in) broad, alternate in arrangement, and secrete a resinous substance. The flowers are yellow to orange-red and produced in panicles about 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in length. The fruit is a capsule 1.5 cm (0.59 in) broad, red ripening brown, with two to four wings.[3]
The common name "hopbush" is used for D. viscosa specifically but also for the genus as a whole.
Common names reflect the widespread distribution of this species. In the desert southwest it is called desert hopbush or canyon hopbush, while gardeners plant hopseed, or hopseed bush.
Australian common names include: broad leaf hopbush, candlewood, giant hopbush, narrow leaf hopbush, sticky hopbush, native hop bush, soapwood, switchsorrel, wedge leaf hopbush, and native hop.[4]
Additional common names include: ʻaʻaliʻi, as well as ‘a‘ali‘i-ku ma kua and ‘a‘ali‘i ku makani in the Hawaiian language language; akeake (New Zealand); lampuaye (Guam); mesechelangel (Palau); chirca (Uruguay, Argentina); romerillo (Sonora, Mexico); jarilla (Southern Mexico); hayuelo (Colombia); ch'akatea (Bolivia); casol caacol (Seri).[5]
The wood is extremely tough and durable, and New Zealand's Māori have used akeake to fashion clubs and other weapons. The Māori name for the shrub, akeake, means "forever and ever".
Native Hawaiians made pou (house posts), laʻau melomelo (fishing lures), and ʻōʻō (digging sticks) from ʻaʻaliʻi wood and a red dye from the fruit.[6]
The cultivar 'Purpurea', with purple foliage, is widely grown as a garden shrub.
The Seri use the plant medicinally.[5]
There are several subspecies as follows:[7]
Botanical synonyms