[D. angustifolia L. fil.; D. arborescens A. Cunn. ex J. D. Hook. var. spatulata (Sm.) Benth.; D. eriocarpa Sm.; D. e. var. amphioxea Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. confertior Sherff; D. e. var. costulata Degener, I. Deg-ener & Sherff; D. e. var. degeneri Sherff; D. e. var. d. f. decipiens Sherff; D. e. var. d. f. heterocarpa Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. eriocarpa f. bifurculata Sherff; D. e. wax. forbesii Sherff; D. e. var./. f. straminea Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. glabrescens Sherff; D. e. var. hille-brandii Sherff; D. e. var. hosakana Sherff; D. e. var. lanaiensis Sherff; D. e. var. molokaiensis Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. oblonga Sherff; D. e. var. obtusior Sherff; D. e. var. pallida Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. p. f. acuminatula Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. sherffii Degener & I. Degener; D. e. var. skottsbergii Sherff; D. e. var. vaccinioides Sherff; D. e. var. v. f. oxyphylla Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. v. f. salicifolia Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. varians Degener & Sherff; D. e. var. waimeana Sherff; D. x faurieiH. Lev.; D. sandwicensis Sherff; D. s. var. latifolia Degener & Sherff; D. s. var. simulans Sherff; D. skottsbergii (Sherff) Degener & I.    Degener; D. spathulata DC, orth. var.; D. spatulata Sm.; D. stenoptera Hillebr.; D. s. var. fauriei (H. Lev.) Sherff; D. viscosa f. angustifolia (L. fil.) Sherff; D. v. var. angustifolia (L. fil.) Benth.; D. v. var. arborescens (A. Cunn. ex J. D. Hook.) Sherff; D. v. var. a. f. spatulata (Sm.) Sherff; D. v. var. spathulata (Sm.) Hillebr.; D. v. var. s. subf. eriocarpa (Sm.) Radik.; Ptelea viscosa L.]
(ind) ‘A (ali‘i, ‘a‘ali‘i ku makani, ‘a'ali'i ku ma kua, kumakani
Shrubs or small trees 2-8 m tall; stems virgate, many-branched, short-hispidulous or glabrous and usually viscid, bark reddish brown to gray or blackish gray, ± viscid. Leaves simple, membranous to chartaceous, sometimes subcoriaceous, elliptic to oblanceolate, spatulate, or lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, (2—)3—10(—15) cm long, (0.5-)l-3(-6) cm wide, glandular punctate and usually irregularly viscid-varnished, sparsely to occasionally densely short-his- pidulous on and near veins and margins or sometimes glabrous, margins entire, sometimes slightly re volute or undulate, apex rounded to obtuse or acuminate, usually bluntly mucronate, the mucro usually purple-tinged, occasionally emarginate, base attenuate to cuneate, petioles 0.1-1.1 cm long, slightly winged. Flowers unisexual (and the plants dioecious or sometimes andromonoecious or functionally monoecious), sometimes (perhaps not in Hawaii) perfect, in paniculate inflorescences usually 1-5 cm long, pedicels usually 3-10 mm long, ± short-hispidulous and usually viscid; sepals 4(-6), oblong-oblanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 1.5-2.2 mm long, short- hispidulous toward margins to nearly gla-brous, persistent; staminate flowers with (7)8(-10) stamens, anthers 2-3 mm long, ovary vestigial; pistillate flowers with ovary usually densely short-hispidulous, 2-4- celled, usually 1 number predominating on a plant but not always in a population, styles 2-4, 2-9 mm long. Capsules straw- colored to dark reddish purple, exceedingly variable, turgid to inflated and bladdery or compressed, the body 0.5-1.5 cm long, 2-4- winged, the wings medially 1-6 mm wide. Seeds compressed-ovoid, ca. 3 mm long. [2n = 28*, 30, 32.] Pantropical; in Hawai‘i scattered to dominant, often in open sites such as ridges and lava fields, sometimes successional on lava or in pastures, ranging from coastal dunes, low elevation shrub- land communities to dry, mesic, and wet forest, also subalpine shrubland, 3-2,350 m, on all of the main islands except Kaho- ‘olawe.— Plate 178.
An extremely polymorphic species, not only in Hawai‘i but throughout its range. Numerous segregate species as well as varieties and forms have been described, especially in Hawaii by E. E. Sherff. The description here is based only on Hawaiian material and may not represent the full range of variation of the species, especially the Australian subspecies. The problem of species delimitation in extra-Australian Dodonaea has been addressed several times (Radlkofer, 1931-1934; Sherff, 1945b, 1947c, 195Id), most recently by Leenhouts (1983). Leenhouts recognized 5 extra-Australian species. He made an effort to distinguish D. viscosa and D. angustifolia, the latter in which he placed all Hawaiian populations. His D. viscosa is a pantropical coastal plant, while D. angustifolia has nearly the same range but occurs more inland and at higher elevations. Leenhouts attempted to separate the 2 species on the basis of fruit wings, leaf texture, and perfect vs. unisexual or perfect flowers and mixtures thereof. These taxa, if recognized at all, perhaps would be better treated as subspecies. Sherff (1945b, 1947c, 195Id) recognized about 35 varieties and forms of 4 species for Hawai‘i. Both the breeding system and morphological features of the Dodonaea viscosa complex are very polymorphic. Work toward an overall revision of the genus by West (1984; West & Noble, 1984) indicates that the D. viscosa complex is the most variable in the genus, and, although distinctive population series exist, many of the features previously used to delimit taxa (e.g., Leenhouts, 1983) do not appear to define monophyletic groups (J. West, pers. comm.). Rather, West believes that many of the distinctive population series probably represent independently derived ecotypes from one Australian ancestor.
After study of over 500 Hawaiian collections of Dodonaea, there seems to be no way to consistently subdivide the Hawaiian material, although there is tremendous variation in leaf size and shape and particularly capsule size, number of wings, and degree to which they are inflated. Populations appear to grow nearly anywhere seed sources are established, from the coast to far inland and from sea level to over 2,300 m. Much of this variation is paralleled in populations throughout the tropics. Three intergrading entities can be distinguished based on the fruits: (1) plants with capsules predominantly 2-winged and compressed (D. sandwicensis), usually occurring in wet montane sites; (2) plants with capsules 3-4- winged and turgid (D. angustifolia, D. eriocarpa, D. spatulata, and D. viscosa), which are widespread but occur primarily in open, mesic to dry sites; and (3) plants with capsules strongly inflated and 4- winged, the wings short (D. stenoptera), which occur primarily on Moloka‘i and scattered sites on 0‘ahu. They are not formally recognized here because these features do not appear to correlate with other characters.
The fruit and leaves of Dodonaea are popular in lei making.