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Common Name: Native Hops

General Information

Dodonaea viscosa is an evergreen shrub that can grow up to 3.00 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials.

Known Hazards

The leaves are slightly cyanogenic[]. They are also said to contain saponins[].
Although poisonous, saponins also have a range of medicinal applications and many saponin-rich plants are used in herbalism (particularly as emetics, expectorants and febrifuges) or as sources of raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry. Saponins are also found in a number of common foods, such as many beans.
Saponins have a quite bitter flavour and are in general poorly absorbed by the human body, so most pass through without harm. They can be removed by carefully leaching in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them. However, it is not advisable to eat large quantities of raw foods that contain saponins.
Saponins are much more toxic to many cold-blooded creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish and make them easy to catch[].

Botanical References

,

Range

Tropical and sub-tropical regions of Asia, Australia, New Zealand and N. America.

Habitat

Rocky, stony or sandy soils in the montane zone of Victoria[]. On dry slopes, in fields and sandy soils by the coast in China[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	3.00 m
Pollinators	Wind
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a light well-drained soil in a sunny position[]. Succeeds in almost any fertile soil and in a hot dry position. Resists drought, salt winds and (atmospheric?) pollution[].
Plants are very wind hardy but are not resistant to frost[]. They tolerate temperatures down to about -7°c in Australian gardens[], but are damaged at about 3°c in British gardens[]. One report says that they succeed outdoors in the mildest gardens in Britain[]. Plants are growing very well in pots in a polyhouse on our trial grounds in south Cornwall, but they have not survived in the open ground[]. Our seed source was from Australia, other provenances might be more hardy[].
Plants are difficult to transplant when they are more than 60 centimetres tall[].
A polymorphic species, there are a number of sub-species[, ].
A dioecious species - both male and female forms must be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Edible Uses

Seed[, ]. No further details are given.
The bitter fruits are a substitute for hops and yeast in making beer[, , ].
The chewed leaves are said to be stimulating[, ] but they contain saponins[] and are also said to be slightly cyanogenic[] so their use is not very advisable.

Medicinal

The leaves are anodyne, astringent, diaphoretic, febrifuge (the var. angustissima is normally used[]), odontalgic and vulnerary[, ]. They are applied internally in the treatment of fevers[]. Externally, they are used to treat toothache, sore throats, wounds, skin rashes and stings[, ].
The leaves are apparently effective in the treatment of toothache if they are chewed without swallowing the juice[].
The bark is employed in astringent baths and poultices[].

Other Uses

The leaves contain up to 18% tannin[].
The twigs can be used to make a number of dyes - pale green, yellow green, and bright gold[].
The leaves and the seed were used by the Maori to make a kind of perfume[].
Plants are very tolerant of pruning and make a good hedging plant for windy sites[, ].
This species is very good for providing low coastal shelter. The fibrous spreading root system, rapid growth and spreading canopy make it an ideal soil stabiliser which is particularly useful in controlling gully and coastal dune erosion[].
Wood - heavy, tough, resistant. This timber is one of the hardest native woods of New Zealand[]. Its heart wood (from the centre of the trunk) is black with streaks of white and is very dense and heavy[]. Used for wedges, hammers, turnery, inlay, cabinets etc[]. The wood is used for making walking sticks and tool handles[].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse[]. The seed is slow to germinate according to one report[], but it germinated in 3 weeks in a cold greenhouse with us[]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a fairly sunny part of the greenhouse for at least their first winter. If trying them outdoors, then plant them out in early summer of their second or third year's growth after the last expected frosts and give them some protection from the cold for their next winter or two[].
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a frame[].