Turpentine bush | |
---|---|
Eremophila clarkei leaves and flowers | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Scrophulariaceae |
Genus: | Eremophila |
Species: | E. clarkei |
Binomial name | |
Eremophila clarkei | |
Synonyms [1] | |
|
Eremophila clarkei, commonly known as turpentine bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. It is a shrub which is variable in form, but usually with narrow leaves and white or pale pink flowers. It is similar to Eremophila georgei and Eremophila granitica .
Eremophila clarkei is an erect shrub growing to a height of between 0.6 m (2 ft) and 4 m (10 ft) wide with branches that are flattened near their tip, glabrous and very sticky due to the presence of resin. The leaves are dark green, widely spaced and arranged alternately along the stems, linear to narrow elliptic in shape and mostly 16–45 mm (0.6–2 in) long and 3–6.5 mm (0.1–0.3 in) wide. The leaf margins may be smooth, wavy or toothed. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on an s-shaped, flattened stalk which is 15–27 mm (0.6–1 in) long. There are 5 linear, green to purple sepals differing slightly in length, 10–15.5 mm (0.4–0.6 in) long and lance-shaped. The petals are 20–40 mm (0.8–2 in) long and joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is white, pink, mauve or purple. The outside of the tube and petal lobes are hairy while the inner surface of the lobes is glabrous and the inside of the tube is filled with woolly hairs. The lowest petal lobe covers the opening of the petal tube. Flowering occurs from March to October and is followed by fruits which are dry, woody oval to cone-shaped and 5.5–9 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long. [2] [3] [4]
Eremophila clarkei was first formally described by Augustus Frederick Oldfield and Ferdinand von Mueller in 1859 and the description was published in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae . The type specimen was collected by Oldfield "near the mouth of the Murchison River". [6] [7] The specific epithet (clarkei) honours William Clark, a patron of botanical collecting who supported the expedition during which the type collection was made. [2] [3] [7]
Turpentine bush is widespread and common in the Eremaean and South-West botanical provinces in Western Australia where it grows in sand or clay soils. [3] [8] It is also found in the extreme south west of the Northern Territory where it is classified as "near threatened" [9] and in South Australia. Its occurrence in that state was first recorded in 1977. [10]
Eremophila clarkei is classified as "not threatened' by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. [8]
Turpentine bush is drought hardy and moderately frost hardy. It is most easily propagated by grafting onto Myoporum species and grows well in a wide range of soils but dos best in a sunny situation. [5] [11]
Eremophila oldfieldii, commonly known as pixie bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with rough bark, broad, flat or narrow fleshy leaves and red, orange or yellow flowers.
Eremophila bowmanii, also known as silver turkeybush, Bowman's poverty bush and flannel bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. It is a low to medium, spreading shrub with silvery-grey, hairy foliage and blue to lilac flowers, and sometimes grows in dense thickets with mulga.
Eremophila delisseri is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to an area of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia. it is a shrub with lilac-coloured flowers and with most of its parts covered with white hairs.
Eremophila eriocalyx, commonly known as desert pride, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with greyish leaves, very hairy sepals and petals that range in colour from white to yellow, sometimes pink or purple.
Eremophila denticulata, also known as toothed eremophila, toothed poverty bush and Fitzgerald eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with red flowers and leaves that have toothed margins.
Eremophila fraseri, commonly known as burra or jilarnu, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with all above-ground parts of the plant, apart from the petals, sticky and shiny due to the presence of a large amount of resin. The petals are coloured white, cream, pink and brown.
Eremophila strongylophylla is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small shrub with distinctive round leaves, yellowish new growth and purple flowers which are white inside. It is similar to Eremophila mackinlayi and Eremophila hygrophana but distinguished from them by characteristics including leaf shape, and the type of hairs on its leaves and branches.
Eremophila weldii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub with glabrous green leaves, small sepals and purple or lilac-coloured petals and it occurs in arid and semi-arid areas of Western Australia and South Australia.
Eremophila hughesii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is spindly, glabrous shrub with narrow leaves and with flowers that vary in colour from blue to pink, sometimes white. It is native to Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Eremophila christophori, commonly known as dolomite fuchsia bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the southern part of the Northern Territory in Australia. It is an erect shrub with bright green leaves and white, pink or lilac flowers.
Eremophila densifolia is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is usually a low, spreading shrub with densely clustered leaves and lilac to purple flowers.
Eremophila drummondii, commonly known as Drummond's eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a variable shrub, usually with sticky branches and leaves, long, thin leaves and mauve or purple flowers in spring.
Eremophila elderi, commonly known as aromatic emu bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is endemic to central Australia where it grows near the border between Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. It is an erect, aromatic shrub with sticky leaves and branches and usually pale coloured to white flowers. Its specific epithet (elderi) honours an early Australian businessman, Thomas Elder.
Eremophila exilifolia is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a widely distributed shrub which is shaped like an inverted cone and has small, very sticky leaves and branches and lilac-coloured flowers.
Eremophila gibsonii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a sticky, glabrous, rounded shrub with narrow leaves and white to lilac-coloured flowers and which occurs in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Eremophila gilesii, commonly known Charleville turkey bush, green turkey bush, desert fuchsia and Giles emu bush is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is usually a low, spreading shrub with pinkish-lilac to purple flowers and is widespread in the Northern Territory and all mainland states except Victoria. It is considered a difficult agricultural weed in some parts of Queensland but is often used as a bush medicine by Aboriginal people.
Eremophila graciliflora, commonly known as slender-flowered eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with linear to lance-shaped leaves and red flowers known only from the type specimen collected by Augustus Oldfield and held at the State Botanical Collection at Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, so that a living example has not been recorded for more than 150 years.
Eremophila psilocalyx is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with a broom-like shape, narrow, hooked leaves and white, pink, blue or purple flowers. It is common in the mallee country around Esperance. It was sometimes incorrectly known as Eremophila pachyphylla.
Eremophila rotundifolia is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub with many tangled branches with its leaves and branches covered with a layer of silvery-grey hairs. Its flowers range in colour from pale to deep lilac. It is common in South Australia and there is also a single record from the Northern Territory.
Eremophila willsii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an erect shrub with bright green, often serrated leaves and pinkish to deep pinkish-purple petals. It is mainly found in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia in deep sand.