Dodonaea Viscosa Ssp. Cuneata (wedge Leaf Hop Bush

[apd]

A park near where I live (Gasworks park in Albert Park, Melb), has some native plants in it. There are plaques with a little info on how Aborigines and early settlers used the plant.

One of the plants is Dodonaea viscosa ssp. cuneata or wedge leaf hop bush. Apparently the leaves were used by early settlers as a hop replacement for brewing.

Has anyone heard about this plant before? Has anyone tried using it or any other natives as an ingredient?

 

[Ross]

the origin of POR perhaps ...

 

[pint of lager]

Have a stack of native hop bush growing at my place. I cannot remember which variety it is, will have to check the notes at home.

My reading was that it gained the name hop bush from the shape of the flowers, rather than as a bittering agent.

They are flowering at the moment, the pods are ripe around Christmas time. The pods on the bushes dry out to an unusual shape. The paperyness is similar to hop cones, but the shape is not. I have only seen the male hop cones, maybe the female cones are a different shape?

It is a bush rather than a bine.