Plants of
South Australia
Dodonaea lobulata
Sapindaceae
Lobed Hop-bush,
Lobed-leaf Hop-bush
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
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Rare
Vulnerable
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Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
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Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 2

Common names

Lobed Hop-bush

Lobed-leaf Hop-bush

Etymology

Dodonaea named after Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585), a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. Lobulata means lobed, referring to the leaflets.

Distribution and status

Found in the east-central and far west of South Australia growing on rocky hills and ridges in arid open woodland and shrubland. Also found in Western Australia and New South Wales. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: North Western, Lake Eyre, Nullarbor, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula
NRM regions: Alinytjara Wilurara, Eyre Peninsula, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Dioecious erect shrub to 3 m high. Leaves either irregularly pinnatifid or irregularly 2–12-lobed, or rarely leaf entire; leaf blade linear to linear-oblanceolate, obtuse; to 5.5 cm long and 2.5 mm wide, glabrous to sparsely hairy; lobes 1–1.5 mm long, rarely to 5 mm; apex obtuse or rounded. Flowers 2 or 3 together, axillary; sepals 3 or 4, stamens 6-8. Flowering between May and July. Fruits are red-brown capsules 3- or rarely 4-winged, to 21 mm long and 15 mm wide; glabrous with wings extending from the base to the apex of the capsule. Seeds are black ovoid seed to 3 mm long and 2.5 mm wide with a short brown aril. Seed embryo type is folded.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between August and November. Collect capsules that contain hard black seeds, usually when capsule is turning red or brown. Place capsules in a tray and leave to dry for 1 to 2 weeks. Then rub the capsules by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 80%. This species has physiological dormancy that needs to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking the seed coat).

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)
Number
of plants
Date
collected
Collection number
Collection location
Date
stored
% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB
74,600 (474.6 g)
74,600 (474.6 g)
100+31-Oct-2005DJD159
Gairdner-Torrens
8-Aug-200680%-18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.