From Common Forest Trees of Hawaii

ʻAʻaliʻi
Dodonaea viscosa
Maple family (Sapindaceae)

Native species (indigenous)

Native much-branched shrub or small tree with sticky yellow green leaves and rounded dry with three or four papery wings, in the broad sense, here regarded as one variable species through the Hawaiian Islands and beyond. Sometimes a small tree up to 30 ft (9 ) and 3 inches (7.5 ) in trunk diameter, with a rounded Bark dark brown, finely fissured. Twigs slender, slightly angled, light brown, hairless.


©2012 Eric White
Leaves 1 1⁄2–3 inches (4–7.5 ) long and 3⁄8–5⁄8 inch (1–1.5 ) wide, narrowly lance-shaped or reverse lance-shaped () and broader toward short-pointed tapering to long-pointed base and very short stalk, not on edges, slightly thickened, finely hairy when young, yellow green, sticky and resinous especially when young, slightly shiny, paler beneath.

Flower clusters () at ends of twigs, about 1 inch (2.5 ) long, finely hairy, sticky. Flowers partly male, female, and on the same plant or different plants (polygamous), about 1⁄4 inch (6 ) long, with 5 hairy and no petals. Male flowers have 10 Female flowers have with short and four dot stigmas.

() swollen, dry, rounded, 3⁄8–5⁄8 inch (1–1.5 ) long, notched at both ends, with three or four, sometimes two, papery round wings, of colors ranging from yellow green to pink to brown to dark maroon, spreading up to 3⁄4 inch (2 ) across, finely hairy on edges, sometimes viscous or sticky, 3–4-celled. Seeds 4–1, elliptical, blackish, 1⁄8 inch (3 ) long.

The wood is yellow brown and the small heartwood is black when present. It is very hard and heavy and said to be durable. It was sometimes used for house posts and spears.

The leaves were used by the Hawaiians for medical purposes. Like hops, the flowers were served to impart a bitter flavor, and also were used as a tonic. The attractively colored is also used in leis for the hair. A red dye was made from the capsules.

Found throughout the Hawaiian Islands, including Niihau, especially in dry regions at about 10–7700 ft (3–2347 ) altitude. Most easily seen in the national parks on Hawaii and Maui and the Waimea Canyon area of Kauai. The tallest specimens, about 30 ft (9 ) high, are along the Mauna Loa Strip Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The tree-sized plants are mostly in the upper elevation forests of Hawaii and Maui, but are also observed occasionally in Waianae and Koolau Ranges on Oahu.

Special areas
Haleakala, Volcanoes

Range
Widespread through tropics of both hemispheres, including Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands, Florida, and Arizona.

Other common names
‘a‘ali‘i-ku ma kua, ‘a‘ali‘i ku makani; lampuaye (Guam); mesechelangel (Palau)

Botanical
Dodonaea eriocarpa Sm., D. sandwicensis Sherff, D. stenocarpa Hillebr.

Three other species with many named varieties and forms recorded from Hawaii are united here under a single very variable species.

This species and wingleaf soapberry or manele, Sapindus saponaria, are the only tree species native in both Hawaii and continental United States.

An evergreen tree retains a large portion of its green leaves all year.

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

style -- This is a long and thread-like structure that connects the stigma with the ovary. A flower may have a single style, or several of them.

oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom

capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.

cm -- A centimeter which is about 0.4 inches.

The apex is the tip or the furthest point from the attachment.

Flowers with both stamens and pistils are bisexual. Also called "perfect flowers".

alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

An ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower. Above the ovary is the style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary.

m -- A meter is about 10% larger than a yard.

mm -- millimeter. About 1/25th of an inch.

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom.

A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. The bottom flowers in a panicle open first.

synonym -- In botany a synonym is a species name that at one time was thought to be the correct name for a plant but was later found to be incorrect and has been replaced by a new name.

canopy -- The foliage of a tree; the crown. Also the upper layer of a forest.

A pistil is the female structure of many flowers. It contains one or more carpels. Each carpel contins an ovary, style and stigma. The stigma receives the pollen which grows thru the style to reach the ovary.