Eremophila scoparia

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Silver emubush
Eremophila scoparia (leaves and flowers).jpg
Eremophila scoparia 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. scoparia
Binomial name
Eremophila scoparia
Synonyms [1]

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.

Contents

Description

Eremophila scoparia is a broom-like shrub which grows to a height of between 1 and 3 m (3 and 10 ft). Its branches and leaves are covered with yellowish or silvery-grey scaly hairs although individual scales are indistinct and the surface may appear glabrous. The leaves are mostly arranged in opposite pairs and are linear to almost cylindrical in shape, S-shaped in side view, mostly 4–25 mm (0.2–1 in) long, 0.8–2.5 mm (0.03–0.1 in) wide and have a hooked end. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

The flowers are borne singly or in pairs in leaf axils on a stalk 2–6 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long which has the same scaly covering as the leaves. There are 5 linear sepals which are 1.5–3.5 mm (0.06–0.1 in) long, covered with the same scaly covering on the outside but are hairy on the inside surface. The petals are 8–25 mm (0.31–0.98 in) long and are joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is blue, lilac, pink or white on the outside and white with yellow spots inside. The outside surface of the petal tube and its lobes are covered with scaly hairs, the inside of the lobes is glabrous except for branched hairs near their edges and the inside of the tube is densely filled with long, soft hairs. The 4 stamens are enclosed in the petal tube. Flowering occurs throughout the year but mainly from August to October. The fruits are dry, woody, oval to cone-shaped, almost spherical, slightly fleshy, 3.3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) long and have a scaly covering. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

E. scoparia growing near Coolgardie Eremophila scoparia (habit).jpg
E. scoparia growing near Coolgardie
E. scoparia flower detail Eremophila scoparia (flower detail).jpg
E. scoparia flower detail

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1810 by botanist Robert Brown who gave it the name Pholidia scoparia and published the description in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae . [7] [8] In 1860, Mueller changed the name to Eremophila scoparia and published the change in Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of van Dieman's Land. [9] [10]

The specific epithet is from the Latin scoparia meaning 'broom-like'. [2] [3] [9]

E.scoparia is also known by the common names broom bush, scotia bush, wax bush and broom emu bush. [2]

Distribution and habitat

Silver emu bush occurs in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. In Western Australia it is found between Merredin and Echuca [3] in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Great Victoria Desert, Hampton, Mallee, Murchison and Nullarbor biogeographic regions. [11] In South Australia it occurs in the North-Western, Lake Eyre, Nullarbor, Gairdner-Torrens, Flinders Ranges, Eastern, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty and Murray botanical regions. [4] It is found in the north-western corner of Victoria [2] and in New South Wales south from Wilcannia. [5] It grows on a wide range of soils, is common in mulga, mallee and chenopod communities [2] and is often the dominant shrub. [12]

Conservation

Eremophila scoparia is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. [11]

Use in horticulture

This eremophila has a broom-like shape and pale to deep lilac-coloured flowers. It can be propagated from cuttings or by grafting onto Myoporum rootstock and grows best in well-drained soil in either full sun or part shade. It is tolerant of drought and of the harshest frost and can be pruned to maintain its shape or to rejuvenate an old specimen. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Eremophila</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Eremophila is a genus of more than 260 species of plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae all of which are endemic to mainland Australia.. Eremophilas are widespread in the arid areas of Australia, especially Western Australia and range in size from low-growing shrubs to small trees. The petals are joined, at least at their bases, into a tube with the upper petals different in size and shape from the lower ones. Some species have common names including emu bush, poverty bush or fuchsia bush, reflecting the belief that emus eat the fruit, their arid environment or a superficial resemblance to the flowers of plants in the genus Fuchsia.

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

Eremophila alternifolia, commonly known as narrow-leaved poverty bush, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to areas between the far west of New South Wales, the far south of the Northern Territory and the southern half of Western Australia. It is a variable shrub, with respect to its growth form, leaf shape and flower colour. Aboriginal Australians used the leaves to treat ailments such as colds and skin infections and pharmacological testing has shown that the leaves contain compounds that affect cardiac activity.

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

Eremophila divaricata, also known as spreading emu bush, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub with stiff, spreading, tangled branches which are often spiny on their ends, erect leaves and mauve to lilac-coloured flowers.

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

Eremophila glabra, commonly known as tar bush, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is sometimes a low, ground-hugging and sometimes an erect shrub. The leaves are variable in size and shape and there is a range of flower colours. In spite of its scientific name, not all forms of the plant are glabrous but most have many small, raised glands on the stems, flowers and leaves.

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

Eremophila longifolia, known by a range of common names including berrigan, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with weeping branches, long, narrow leaves and brick-red or pink flowers and is found in all Australian mainland states and the Northern Territory.

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

Eremophila oppositifolia, commonly known as weeooka, twin-leaf emu bush and mountain sandalwood, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to Australia. It is a shrub or small tree with its leaves arranged in opposite pairs and has cream to red or sometimes maroon coloured flowers. It occurs in all mainland states, but not the Northern Territory.

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

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.

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

Eremophila deserti is a shrub which is endemic to Australia. Common names for this species include turkey bush, dogwood, poison bushEllangowan poison bush, pencil bush and carrot bush. It is common and widespread in all mainland states, although not the Northern Territory. Some forms are poisonous to stock.

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

Eremophila microtheca, also known as heath-like eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with densely hairy branches and leaves, narrow leaves and pale lilac-coloured flowers and which emits a strong odour.

<i>Myoporum oppositifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Myoporum oppositifolium, commonly known as twin-leaf myoporum, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is easily distinguished from others in the genus by the combination of glabrous leaves and branches, its opposite leaf arrangement and its serrated leaves. Its distribution is restricted to the extreme south-west of Western Australia.

<i>Myoporum platycarpum</i> Species of plant

Myoporum platycarpum, known by several common names including sugarwood, false sandalwood and ngural is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is rounded with bright green foliage as a young shrub and roughly fissured, dark grey bark when mature. Sugarwood is endemic to the southern half of continental Australia.

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

Eremophila behriana is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It was one of the plants collected on the 1858 - 1859 Babbage expedition to explore areas north of Adelaide and was later described by Ferdinand von Mueller. It is a small shrub, usually with egg-shaped, serrated leaves and lilac to purple flowers with hairs on the lower petal lobe.

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

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.

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

Eremophila decussata is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is only known from several small, disjunct areas in Western Australia and South Australia. It is small, spreading, silvery-grey shrub with soft leaves and lilac-coloured flowers with spots or streaks of purple inside the flower.

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

Eremophila labrosa is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with many hairy branches arising from near ground level, narrow, hooked leaves and mauve and blue flowers.

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

Eremophila paisleyi is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a rounded, broom-shaped shrub with white or lilac-coloured flowers which occurs in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

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

Eremophila polyclada, commonly known as twiggy emu-bush, flowering lignum, lignum fuchsia and desert lignum is a plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is a dense, spreading shrub with narrow leaves and white to pale lilac-coloured, purple-spotted flowers. It occurs in all mainland states except Western Australia.

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

Eremophila sargentii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with sticky, shiny foliage, small leaves and mauve or blue flowers.

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

Eremophila serrulata, commonly known as serrate-leaved eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an erect or spreading shrub whose leaves are sticky and have small serrations, and flowers that have green, yellowish-green or yellowish-brown petals.

Eremophila verrucosa is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is an erect, broom-shaped shrub with its leaves and branches covered with yellow-grey scales and lilac to purple flowers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Eremophila scoparia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chinnock, R.J. (Bob) (2007). Eremophila and allied genera : a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae (1st ed.). Dural, NSW: Rosenberg. pp. 449–451. 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. 250. ISBN   9780980348156.
  4. 1 2 3 "Eremophila scoparia". State Herbarium of South Australia: eflora. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Chinnock, Robert. "Eremophila scoparia". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, plantnet. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 Archer, William (22 February 2012). "Eremophila scoparia - Broom Bush". Esperance Wildflowers. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Pholidia scoparia". APNI. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum. London: Richard Taylor & Son. p. 517. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Eremophila scoparia". APNI. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  10. ↑ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1860). "On the genus Eremophila". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of van Dieman's Land. 3: 295. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  11. 1 2 "Eremophila scoparia". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  12. ↑ "Introduction to National Ecological Communities endemic to Western Australia" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  13. ↑ Boschen, Norma; Goods, Maree; Wait, Russell (2008). Australia's eremophilas : changing gardens for a changing climate. Melbourne: Bloomings Books. pp. 164–165. ISBN   9781876473655.
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