Ake-Ake. Dodonoea viscosa

Dodonaea viscosa is a species in the family Sapindaceae with a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa, the Americas, southern Asia and Australasia. Common names include Hopseed, Hopbush, Akeake (New Zealand) and Aalii (Hawaii). FruitIt is a shrub growing to 1-3 m tall, rarely a small tree to 10 m tall. The leaves are simple elliptical, 6-13 cm long and 2-4 cm broad, and secrete a resinous substance. The flowers are yellow to orange-red, produced in short racemes. The fruit is a capsule 2 cm broad, red ripening brown, with three wings. The wood is extremely tough and durable, and New Zealand’s M�ori have used akeake to fashion clubs and other weapons. The M�ori name for the shrub, akeake, means &quotforever and ever&quot. The cultivar ‘Purpurea’, with purple foliage, is widely grown as a garden shrub.