Botanical art
Prior names
Dodonaea deflexa
Etymology
Dodonaea named after Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585), a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. Baueri named after Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (1760-1826), an Austrian botanical illustrator who travelled on Matthew Flinders' expedition to Australia.
Distribution and status
Endemic to South Australia and found in the southern part of South Australia from the Gammon Ranges to the Fleurieu Peninsula growing on rocky hillsides and exposed sites on mountain ridges and in red-brown sandy loams in mallee scrub. Native. Common in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Dioecious spreading or sometimes prostrate shrub to 1 m high. Leaves simple, petiolate, obovate; rarely broad-oblong or orbicular, truncate or rounded and irregularly 3, rarely 6-toothed at the apex; to 1.8 cm long and 1 cm wide, viscous, with flat glands, glabrous to sparsely puberulent; margin slightly recurved, undulate, unevenly dentate. Flowers solitary or rarely 2 together,;axillary, with small yellow with red-tipped flowers. Flowering between December and March. Fruits are red-brown capsule, 3-5-angled to 10 mm long and 5 mm wide. Seeds are black ovoid seed to 2.5 mm long and 2 mm wide with orange aril. Seed embryo type is folded.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between December and April. Collect capsules that contain hard black seeds, usually when capsule is turning red or brown. Place capsules in a tray and leave to dry for 1 to 2 weeks. Then rub the capsules by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was low, at 45%. This species has physiological dormancy that needs to be overcome for the seed to germinate (e.g. nicking the seed coat).
| Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGA MSB | 13,200 (29.4 g) 13,200 (29.4 g) | 37 | 22-Dec-2003 | PJA74 Southern Lofty | 1-Sep-2004 | 45% | +5°C, -18°C |
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.