Desert Hop-bush
Female Shrub
Desert Hop-bush
New Leaf Growth
| Desert Hop-bush Female Shrub | | Desert Hop-bush New Leaf Growth | | ||
 | 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. | |||||
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