Dodonaea viscosa

Hop Bush at Jerrabomberra, NSW

Dodonaea viscosa at Jerrabomberra, NSW - 24 Dec 2021
Dodonaea viscosa at Jerrabomberra, NSW - 24 Dec 2021
Dodonaea viscosa at Jerrabomberra, NSW - 24 Dec 2021
Dodonaea viscosa at Jerrabomberra, NSW - 24 Dec 2021
Dodonaea viscosa at Jerrabomberra, NSW - 24 Dec 2021
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Identification history

Dodonaea viscosa 1 Jan 2022 MichaelMulvaney
Unidentified 24 Dec 2021 SteveBorkowskis

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User's notes

Appeared to be a parasitic plant growing on Dodonaea viscosa

3 comments

   1 Jan 2022
I think a virus or gall -like infection has caused this abnormal growth of Dodonea
   9 Feb 2022
Rohan Syer of Friends of Andrews Reserve in Melbourne sent me the following information.

"Michael. You had a Hop bush gall photo. We had same instances in Melbourne. Friends of Andrews Reserve. FOAR. I had contacted Leon Costerman, nothing conclusive but deduce it is insect related. This link has some details. https://www.horticulture.com.au/globalassets/hort-innovation/resource-assets/ny15002-gall-producing-insects.pdf
From the above site: The gall is a by-product of insect feeding, caused when the feeding insect injects saliva into the plant that contains particular chemicals or hormones.

Thrips (various families in order Thysanoptera)
Many plant species can be affected by gall forming thrips including Acacia, Myoporum, Ficus, Dianella, Schefflera, Casuarina, Pittosporum and many others. Inconclusive but my guess at this point is that it is thrip caused. Our photo sample - unable to insert. But same as yours. "

(From Leon) From Leon - "There are numerous types of insect, and different plants are affected in different ways: some, like wattles, get galls (lumps), others, like tea-tree, get 'brushes' of leaves of very reduced size (sometimes called 'witch's brooms', some get distorted growth of the leaves, which appears to be the case with your Dodonaea."
   9 Feb 2022
Thanks for the additional information Michael, that’s very interesting. I have noticed this a number of times since, so it would appear to be relatively common.

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Location information

Sighting information

Additional information

  • 10cm to 30cm Plant height
  • False In flower

Species information

  • Dodonaea viscosa Scientific name
  • Hop Bush Common name
  • Not Sensitive
  • Local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Up to 1391.78m Recorded at altitude
  • Machine learning
  • In flower

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
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