Dodonaea hexandra
{{Short description|Species of shrub}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Dodonaea hexandra.jpg
|image_caption = In Wanilla Land Settlement Conservation Park
|genus = Dodonaea
|species = hexandra
|authority = F.Muell.{{cite web |title=Dodonaea hexandra |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/71808 |publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=5 March 2025}}
|synonyms_ref =
|synonyms =
}}
Dodonaea hexandra, commonly known as horned hop bush,{{cite web |last1=West |first1=Judith Gay |last2=Busby |first2=John R. |title=Dodonaea hexandra |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Dodonaea%20hexandra |publisher=Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. |access-date=5 March 2025}} is a species of plant in the family Sapindaceae and is native to scattered parts of Australia, mostly in the south of South Australia. It is a spreading, dioecious shrub with simple leaves, flowers arranged singly with six stamens, and spherical, three-angled capsules.
Description
Dodonaea hexandra is a spreading dioecious shrub that typically grows to a height of up to {{cvt|60|cm}}. Its leaves are simple, sessile, mostly {{cvt|4–14|mm}} long and {{cvt|0.5–2|mm}} wide. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils or on the ends of branches on a pedicel {{cvt|1–2|mm}} long. The three sepals are egg-shaped, {{cvt|1.5–3.6|mm}} long and there are six stamens about the same length as the sepals, the ovary glabrous. Flowering occurs from May to July, and the fruit is a glabrous, three-angled capsule {{cvt|5–7|mm}} long and {{cvt|5–8|mm}} wide, the appendages often absent, or if present, lobe-like and crust-like, {{cvt|0.5|mm}} wide.{{FloraBase|name=Dodonaea hexandra|id=4764}}{{cite web |title=Dodonaea hexandra |url=https://spapps.environment.sa.gov.au/SeedsOfSA/speciesinformation.html?rid=1504 |publisher=Seeds of South Australia |access-date=5 March 2025}}
Taxonomy and naming
Dodonaea hexandra was first formally described in 1855 by Ferdinand von Mueller in his Definitions of rare or hitherto undescribed Australian plants from specimens collected by [https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/wilhelmi-carl.html Johann Friedrich Carl Wilhelmi] near Port Lincoln.{{cite web |title=Dodonaea hexandra |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/rest/instance/apni/483098 |publisher=Australian Plant Name Index |access-date=5 March 2025}} The specific epithet (hexandra) means 'six stamens'.{{cite book |last1=George |first1=Alex |last2=Sharr |first2=Francis |title=Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings |date=2021 |publisher=Four Gables Press |location=Kardinya, WA |isbn=9780958034180 |page=217|edition=3rd}}
Distribution and habitat
This species of Dodonaea grows in mallee scrub dominated by tree species in the south of South Australia, the far south of Western Australia, and far north-western Victoria.
Conservation status
Dodonaea hexandra is listed as "Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations where it is potentially at risk.{{cite web|title=Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna|url=https://www.epa.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Referral_Documentation/DWERDT480152%20%20App%206%20-%202020%20Western%20Australian%20and%20Commonwealth%20of%20Australia%20Conservation%20Codes%282%29.pdf |publisher=Government of Western Australia Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions|accessdate=4 October 2024}}