Eremophila margarethae

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

Eremophila margarethae, commonly known as sandbank poverty bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a low, spreading shrub with grey leaves, flowers a shade of pink or purple, common in central areas of Western Australia.

Contents

Description

Eremophila margarethae is a spreading shrub, with branches and leaves covered with fine grey or yellowish branched hairs, usually growing to a height of less than 1.5 m (60 in). The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches and are thick, especially near the edges, linear to lance-shaped, mostly 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) long and 2.5–7 mm (0.1–0.3 in) wide. The leaves develop a coating of resin as they age which often obscures the individual hairs. The mid-rib is prominent on the lower surface and appears as a groove on the upper side. [2] [3]

The flowers are borne singly or in pairs in leaf axils on hairy stalks 3.5–7.5 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long. There are five very hairy, blackish-purple, linear to lance-shaped, tapering sepals which are 7.5–13 mm (0.3–0.5 in) long. The petals are 23–29 mm (0.9–1 in) long and are joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is pale lilac to deep lilac-coloured on the outside and white with lilac or purple spots on the inside. 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 woolly hairs. The four stamens are fully enclosed in the petal tube. Flowering occurs from April to October and the fruits which follow are oval-shaped with a glabrous, straw-coloured, papery covering and are 6–9 mm (0.24–0.35 in) long. [2] [3]

E. margarethae growing at Ophthalmia Dam near Newman Eremophila margarethae (habit).jpg
E. margarethae growing at Ophthalmia Dam near Newman
E. margarethae flower detail Eremophila margarethae (flower detail).jpg
E. margarethae flower detail

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described by Spencer Le Marchant Moore in 1899 and the description was published in Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany . [4] [5] The specific epithet (margarethae) honours Margaret Forrest, wife of Sir John Forrest. [2] [3]

Distribution and habitat

Sandbank poverty bush is widespread and common between Leonora and Newman [3] in the Gascoyne, Little Sandy Desert, Murchison and Pilbara biogeographic regions where it grows in mulga woodland on hardpan flats or sometimes on stony hills. [2] [6] [7]

Ecology

Sandbank poverty bush is an indicator species that pasture is in poor condition due to overgrazing, especially of grasses such as broad-leaf wanderrie grass ( Monachather paradoxus ) and buck wanderrie grass ( Eriachne helmsii ). This poverty bush is not palatable to stock. [8]

This species is susceptible to predation by the hopbush scale insect ( Pulvinaria dodonaeae , Order Hemiptera, Family Coccidae). About 10% of plants are killed although other species of eremophlias are not affected. [9]

Conservation status

Eremophila margarethae is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife [6]

Use in horticulture

The silvery-grey foliage of this eremophila complements the blue flowers of this hardy, small shrub. It can be propagated from cuttings or by grafting onto Myoporum rootstock. It prefers a well-drained soil in a sunny location but will develop a more open habit in partial shade. It is very drought tolerant and moderately resistant to frost. [10]

Related Research Articles

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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.

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

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Eremophila compacta, commonly known as compact poverty bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to the central west of Western Australia. There are two distinct subspecies differing in their growth habit but both have grey leaves due to a covering of white or grey hairs, and purple to blue, rarely white flowers.

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

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

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<i>Eremophila jucunda</i> Species of plant

Eremophila jucunda is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small to medium-sized shrub with hairy branches and leaves, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves and cream-coloured, lilac or purple flowers.

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

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

Eremophila malacoides, commonly known as frontage poverty bush, 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.

Eremophila metallicorum, commonly known as miners poverty bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a small shrub with narrow leaves and lilac-coloured flowers on an S-shaped stalk.

<i>Eremophila obovata</i> Species of plant

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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.

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

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Eremophila retropila is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect, spreading shrub with hairy, greyish leaves crowded at the ends of the branches, and lilac or violet-coloured flowers which are white inside.

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 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

Eremophila spinescens is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a low, spreading, rigid, spiny shrub with small leaves and lilac to dark purple flowers.

Eremophila tenella is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect, spindly shrub with pendulous branches and with its branches and leaves covered with a layer of fine, branched, yellow-grey hairs. Its buds are yellowish but open to white or pale lilac 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 margarethae". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  2. 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. 519–521. ISBN   9781877058165.
  3. 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. 182. ISBN   9780980348156.
  4. ↑ "Eremophila margarethae". APNI. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Le Marchant Moore, Spencer (1899). "The Botanical Results of a Journey into the Interior of Western Australia". Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany. 34: 211. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Eremophila margarethae". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  7. ↑ Paczkowska, Grazyna; Chapman, Alex R. (2000). The Western Australian flora: a descriptive catalogue . Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. p. 338. ISBN   0646402439.
  8. ↑ Ryan, Kathryn. "Sandbank poverty bush". Government of Western Australia, Department of Agriculture and Food. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Richmond, Guy (February 1995). "Herbivory of Eremophila R. Br. (Myoporaceae) by Pulvinaria dodonaeae Maskell (Hemiptera: Coccidae) in the Arid Shrublands of Western Australia". Australian Journal of Entomology. 34 (1): 29–30. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-6055.1995.tb01272.x .
  10. ↑ Boschen, Norma; Goods, Maree; Wait, Russell (2008). Australia's eremophilas : changing gardens for a changing climate. Melbourne: Bloomings Books. pp. 210–211. ISBN   9781876473655.
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