Eremophila malacoides

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Frontage poverty bush
Eremophila malacoides (leaves and flowers).jpg
Eremophila malacoides leaves and flower
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Eremophila
Species:
E. malacoides
Binomial name
Eremophila malacoides

Eremophila malacoides, commonly known as frontage poverty bush, [2] is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with grey-green foliage, densely hairy leaves, and usually lilac to purple flowers but a yellow flowered form also occurs.

Contents

Description

Eremophila malacoides is a greyish, spreading shrub with many tangled branches usually growing to a height of less than 1 m (40 in). Its leaves and branches are covered with grey, matted hairs. The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches and are mostly elliptic to egg-shaped, 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) long and 2.5–7 mm (0.1–0.3 in) wide. [3] [4]

The flowers are borne singly, without a stalk in leaf axils. There are 5 hairy, overlapping, lance-shaped sepals which are 5.5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long. The hairs on the outer surface of the sepals are yellowish and form a dense, loose mat. The petals are 20–32 mm (0.8–1 in) long and are joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is lilac-coloured to purple on the outside and white with purple spots on the inside. In the Granite Peak area, the flowers of this species are more usually yellow. The outer surface of the tube and petal lobes is hairy, the inner surface of the lobes is glabrous and the inside of the tube is filled with long, soft hairs. The 4 stamens are fully enclosed in the petal tube. Flowering occurs after rain from April to November and the fruits which follow are dry, woody, hairy, oval-shaped and 4.5–6 mm (0.18–0.24 in) long. [3] [4]

E. malacoides growing near Wiluna Eremophila malacoides (habit).jpg
E. malacoides growing near Wiluna
E. malacoides flower detail Eremophila malacoides (flower detail).jpg
E. malacoides flower detail

Taxonomy and naming

Eremophila malacoides was first formally described by Robert Chinnock in 2007 and the description was published in Eremophila and Allied Genera: A Monograph of the Plant Family Myoporaceae. [5] The specific epithet is said to be derived from the Greek malae-, 'soft' and oides, 'form of', referring to the soft hairs on the branches and leaves of this species. [3] [4] [5] Sharr gives the derivation as from the Greek malaco- meaning "soft" and -oides, "-like". [6] The word in ancient Greek for soft is malakos (μαλακός). [7] Ancient Greek eidos (εἶδος) means 'form' or 'shape'. [7]

Distribution and habitat

This eremophila occurs between Meekatharra and Leonora [4] in the Gascoyne and Murchison biogeographic regions. [2] [8] It usually grows in saline areas that are subjected to occasional flooding. [3]

Conservation status

Eremophila malacoides is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife [8]

Use in horticulture

This small, compact shrub nearly always has flowers in a garden setting, is tolerant of a wide range of soils, including heavy and saline soils and is frost and drought tolerant. It can be propagated from cuttings and in most situations will grow well on its own roots. It is a hardy garden plant that will respond to a light application of fertiliser in spring. [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Eremophila strongylophylla</i> Species of flowering plant

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Eremophila eversa is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of Western Australia. It is known from only one plant, now thought to have died. It is a small shrub with small leaves and hairy purple to lilac-coloured flowers.

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<i>Eremophila phyllopoda</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila phyllopoda is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub, sometimes round or flat-topped with sticky, hairy leaves and flowers ranging in colour from pink or lilac to purple.

Eremophila pilosa is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small shrub with many tangled branches, with its leaves and branches densely covered with hairs and which has mauve or purple flowers. It occurs in a restricted area in the Pilbara.

<i>Eremophila pungens</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila pungens is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an erect, sticky shrub with broad, serrated-edged leaves which end in a sharp spine and purple or violet flowers.

Eremophila revoluta is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a low, dense shrub with small, hairy leaves, very hairy sepals and mauve or purple petals.

<i>Eremophila rhegos</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Eremophila rigens</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila rigens is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with long, stiff, glabrous leaves and pale lilac-coloured to white flowers.

<i>Eremophila spinescens</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Eremophila ternifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila ternifolia, commonly known as Wongan eremophila is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a low, many-branched, shrub with short, pointed leaves and small lilac-coloured or mauve flowers.

<i>Eremophila warnesii</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila warnesii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect, compact shrub with furry leaves, hairy sepals and blue to mauve petals. It is a little-known species, named after the founder of the Eremophila Study Group.

References

  1. ↑ "Eremophila malacoides". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora: a descriptive catalogue . Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 338. ISBN   0646402439.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Chinnock, R.J. (Bob) (2007). Eremophila and allied genera : a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae (1st ed.). Dural, NSW: Rosenberg. pp. 461–462. ISBN   9781877058165.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Brown, Andrew; Buirchell, Bevan (2011). A field guide to the eremophilas of Western Australia (1st ed.). Hamilton Hill, W.A.: Simon Nevill Publications. p. 181. ISBN   9780980348156.
  5. 1 2 "Eremophila malacoides". APNI. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya, Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 247. ISBN   9780958034180.
  7. 1 2 Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  8. 1 2 "Eremophila malacoides". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  9. ↑ "Eremophila malacoides". Goldfields Revegetation. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Boschen, Norma; Goods, Maree; Wait, Russell (2008). Australia's eremophilas : changing gardens for a changing climate. Melbourne: Bloomings Books. pp. 211–212. ISBN   9781876473655.
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