Gidgee fuchsia bush | |
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Eremophila dalyana growing near Innamincka | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Scrophulariaceae |
Genus: | Eremophila |
Species: | E. dalyana |
Binomial name | |
Eremophila dalyana | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Eremophila dalyana, commonly known as gidgee fuchsia bush, desert fuchsia or ilpengk by Alyawarre people in the Utopia homeland in Central Australia, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to an area of central Australia. It is a broom-like shrub or small tree with thin leaves and pale pink to white flowers. It is found in south-western Queensland, the extreme north east of South Australia and in a small area in the Northern Territory.
Eremophila dalyana is a shrub or small tree which grows to a height of between 1 and 4 m (3 and 10 ft) and a width of up to 1.5 m (5 ft). It has many erect branches giving the plant a broom-like appearance. Most parts of the plant are covered with silvery or greyish scales. The leaves are erect, arranged in opposite pairs, linear in shape, mostly 13–50 mm (0.5–2 in) long, about 1 mm (0.04 in) wide and have a curved hook on the end. [2] [3] [4]
The flowers are usually borne singly in leaf axils on a stalk 4–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long. There are 5 grey-green, triangular sepals which are scaly on the outer surface, hairy on the inside and 1.5–3.5 mm (0.06–0.1 in) long. The petals are 18–26 mm (0.7–1 in) long and joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is a shade of pinkish lilac to white on the outside and has pale yellow spots inside. The outside surface is scaly and the inside of the petal lobes is hairy but the inside of the tube is filled with soft hairs. The 4 stamens are fully enclosed within the tube. The main flowering time is from July to October and is followed by fruits which are cylinder-shaped, 9–18 mm (0.4–0.7 in) long and have a papery covering. [2] [3]
The species was first formally described by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1865 and the description was published in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae . [5] [6] The specific epithet (dalyana) honours Sir Dominick Daly, Governor of South Australia from 1862 to 1868. [2]
Eremophila dalyana occurs in south-western Queensland and the extreme north east of South Australia. There is also a disjunct population in the south-eastern Northern Territory. It usually grows in sandy soil in mulga and gidgee communities. [2]
The Alyawarre people of the Utopia community regard this plant, which they call ilpengk to be a source of powerful medicines, which they use to treat respiratory complaints and skin complaints like scabies. [7] The medicine is prepared by collecting leaves which are then ground into a paste, mixed with fat, boiled, strained and decanted. [8]
Gidgee fuchsia bush is a very drought tolerant plant and flowers especially abundantly in the driest years. It is also long lived and some specimens have grown in gardens for more than 30 years. It is most easily grown from cuttings but in humid areas needs to be grafted onto Myoporum . It is hardy in a wide range of soils, grows in full or filtered sunlight and tolerates frost when mature. [4]
Eremophila youngii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a dense, erect shrub with many of its parts covered with a layer of grey to yellowish-grey scales and with pink, purple or red flowers.
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 scoparia, commonly known as silver emubush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a broom-like shrub with narrow, hooked leaves, small sepals and deep lilac-coloured to white petals and is common and widespread in southern parts of the continent.
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 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 mackinlayi, commonly known as desert pride, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with its branches and leaves covered with a thick layer of yellow to grey hairs, mostly egg-shaped leaves and deep lilac-coloured to purple flowers. It is most closely related to E. strongylophylla and E. hygrophana and sometimes occurs in the same areas as these species.
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 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 dempsteri is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the south of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with many upright stems, short, hooked leaves and pinkish-purple to white flowers with distinctive woolly sepals.
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 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 platycalyx is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with its branches and leaves covered with a layer of matted hairs, although the hairs are sometimes obscured by resin. The shape of the leaves is variable, depending on subspecies, the sepals are often brightly coloured and the petals are cream-coloured, sometimes spotted on the outside. Two subspecies have been described but others have been discovered although not as yet formally described.
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.
Pityrodia loricata is a flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a dense, greyish, multi-stemmed shrub with whorled leaves, prominent sepals and pale, pinkish-white flowers. It is common in Western Australia and the Northern Territory and there is a single record from South Australia.
Video showing how indigenous Australians collect and process ilpengk to produce medicine: https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065051/http://central.batchelor.edu.au/film/ilpengk-slideshow/