Dodonaea viscosa (hopbush)

Widely distributed through the southern hemisphere including Australia, New Zealand, South and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America; also occurring in the southern United States. It is tolerant of drought and can grow in coastal environments. It is intolerant of frost and does not grow well in shade.

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partnership aims to save plant life world wide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.

Description of seeds: Black, 2-3 mm in length and firm when ripe, contained in three- or four-winged capsules that become brittle when mature.
Number of seed collections stored in the Millennium Seed Bank: 20.
Seed storage behaviour: Orthodox (the seeds of this plant survive being dried without significantly reducing their viability, and are therefore amenable to long-term frozen storage such as at the MSB)
Germination testing: 100% germination when chipped with scalpel (on 1% agar, at 15, 20 and 25 oC, 8/16). 49-67% germination (pre-sowing treatment = 80% sulphuric acid for 4 minutes) on 1% agar under range of temperature & lighting conditions.
Composition values: 7.6-19% oil content (entire seed/nut). 20.4-21.4% protein content (entire seed/nut).

Kew's 'Difficult' Seeds Project - find out more about storing and germinating the seeds of Dodonaea viscosa

Dodonaea viscosa in Bolivia (Image: © J.R.I. Wood, Darwin Initiative Project 161/11/015)

Hopbush is cultivated in the Tropical Nursery, one of the behind-the-scenes areas of Kew. It is grown from seed; some sources recommend pre-treatment of the seed in very hot water. Kew’s general potting mix is used, which consists of coir and Silvafibre, with screened loam, Osmacote and Kieserite. Alternatively, a light, well-drained soil could be used. Hopbush can also be propagated by taking cuttings; this method can be used to obtain female plants for the aesthetic value of their winged fruits. At Kew, hopbush is grown in a glasshouse zone where the minimum temperature is 16˚C, and is kept under natural light. Hopbush will tolerate lengthy dry periods and does not require heavy feeding. Occasional mealy bug and whitefly infestations are dealt with using biological controls and, if necessary, by chemical sprays.

Hopbush is cultivated in the Tropical Nursery, one of the behind-the-scenes areas of Kew.

Dried and alcohol-preserved specimens of hopbush are held in the Herbarium, and details of some of these specimens can be seen in the on-line Herbarium Catalogue. Specimens of hopbush are also held in the Economic Botany Collection.

Between April and October 2010, Kew and the British Museum brought a small corner of South Africa to the heart of London.

The South Africa Landscape celebrated a shared vision to strengthen cultural understanding and support biodiversity conservation across the world.

Dodonaea viscosa (hopbush) was one of the star plants featured in the Landscape.

Read Kew's South Africa Landscape blog.

Watch the video and view photos of the building of the Landscape.

Dodonaea viscosa – sticky hop-bush. Corangamite Region Guidelines.

Flora Zambesiaca - Dodonaea viscosa

Growing Native Plants. Australian National Botanic Gardens

Plants for a Future

PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa)

SEPASAL (Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands)

Search Kew's databases for more information on this species