Dodonaea megazyga

Dodonaea megazyga
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Sapindaceae
Genus:	Dodonaea
Species:	D. megazyga
Binomial name
Dodonaea megazyga (F.Muell.) & F.Muell. ex Benth. [1]
Synonyms [1]
Dodonaea viscosa var. megazygaF.Muell.

Dodonaea megazyga is a species of plant in the family Sapindaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub or small shrub with imparipinnate leaves with usually 19 to 31 lance-shaped leaflets, flowers arranged in cymes, the flowers with three or four sepals and eight stamens, and capsules with 3 wings.

Description

Dodonaea megazyga is an erect, dioecious shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of up to 5 m (16 ft). Its leaves are imparipinnate, 72–145 mm (2.8–5.7 in) long on a petiole 18–30 mm (0.71–1.18 in) long, with between 19 and 31 lance-shaped leaflets 17–24.5 mm (0.67–0.96 in) long and 4–7.5 mm (0.16–0.30 in) wide with a wedge-shaped base. The flowers are arranged in large numbers in a cyme, each flower on a pedicel 2.2–7 mm (0.087–0.276 in) long with three or four lance-shaped to broadly egg-shaped or broadly oblong sepals, 1.8–2.7 mm (0.071–0.106 in) long that fall off as the flowers open, and eight stamens. The ovary is covered with a few soft hairs. The fruit is a glabrous, three-winged, egg-shaped capsule 7.5–10.5 mm (0.30–0.41 in) long and 13.5–22.5 mm (0.53–0.89 in) wide. ^{[2] [3]}

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1862 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Dodonaea viscosa var. megazyga in his The Plants Indigenous to the Colony of Victoria from specimens collected by Hermann Beckler "in the warm, damp forest valleys of the Hastings River". ^{[4] [5]} In 1863, George Bentham raised the variety to species status as Dodonaea megazyga in Flora Australiensis . ^[6]

Distribution and habitat

This species of Dodonaea grows in forest or near rainforest from south-east Queensland to the Wollemi National Park area of New South Wales. ^{[2] [3]}

Conservation status

Dodonaea megazyga is listed as of "least concern" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992 . ^[7]

References

1. "Dodonaea megazyga". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
2. West, Judith G. Busby, John R. (ed.). "Dodonaea megazyga". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
3. Wilson, Paul G. "Dodonaea megazyga". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
4. "Dodonaea viscosa var. megazyga". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
5. von Mueller, Ferdinand (1862). The Plants Indigenous to the Colony of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p. 86. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
6. "Dodonaea megazyga". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
7. "Species profile—Dodonaea megazyga". Queensland Government, Department of Education and Science. Retrieved 19 April 2025.