Dodonea viscosa - was Tall, thin screen
- To: "medit-plants"
- Subject: Dodonea viscosa - was Tall, thin screen
- From: G* B*
- Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 09:01:16 +0200
>Dodonea viscosa is indigenous to many places inthe pacific rim (Moria's
>ring of fire). It is naturally found in Hawaii (known as A'ali'i) and
>known by several other names D. eriocarpa in Australia, India, etc. It is
>used in Hawaii for lei making, fire wood, diggin implements (very hard
>wood). There also seem to be many ecomorphs as this plant is very
>variable depending on the environment that it is grown in. On the slopes
>of Mauna Kea it gets to be a huge tree (30+ feet) further down slope in
>the windswept flaks of the mountains it is a low shrub. Flowers vary as
>well as leaf shape and color. It is the host for one of Hawaii's Endemic
>butterflies. All in all it is a nice plant, but if unpruned can spread
>quite a bit (I should take some photos of the ones in the field).
Dodonea must be one of the worlds most widely spread species. My books tell
me its a South American native & besides the places listed above is also a
South African & I'm pretty sure I saw it in the Isolo Massif Park in
Madagascar.
I have it, as well as the NZ purple form, in a mixed shrub shelter belt on
one side of my property. Very tough. I actually find the purple form
slightly weaker rooted than the species & more subject to being blown
ver.( This could be the difference between cutting & seed grown plants ). If
planting in a windy area, my advice would be to grow through to 1.5 - 2 m &
then cut back to half height. Makes a squatter, bushier plant with less
vertical leverage & allows the root formation to remain more in balance with
the foliage.
Regards
Glenn Breayley. Ragnarok & Valhalla Research.
POBox 26158, Hout Bay, 7872, Capetown, South Africa
Ph/Fax SA 021 7904253 E-mail valhalla@iafrica.com
Wholesale nurseryman & Tillandsia specialist wholesale & retail grower.
