Desert Hop-bush
Female Shrub
Ellura
Desert Hop-bush
New Leaf Growth
 
                      
Desert Hop-bush (Dodonaea stenozyga)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida) - Shrubs & Bushes
Order: Soapberries (Sapindales)
Family: Soapberry (Sapindaceae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Desert Hop-bush (Dodonaea stenozyga)
This Photo:     Structure

Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
Originally we found one male flowering in October; which has never produced fruit. These are Dioecious plants (male & female are different plants). Many plants have male & female on the same plant; or even in the same flower.
We then found a female plant in the following July; which had already flowered with mature fruit. It then fruited through to December.
The fruit are a stunning mix of immature green to mature wine-red shades. They are covered in little warts. Surprisingly the fruit (or capsule) can be of mix of 3, 4 or 5 wings or fins. Usually the wing count would be diagnostic for different species, but occurs on the same plant; in fact on the same stem as shown here.
As is clear, the leaves are thin branching into leaflets; somewhat Senna artemisioides like. They are glossy though.

Copyright © 2012-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 16-Oct-2012
This species is classed as LC (Least Concern) in the Murray Mallee, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)