Myoporum insulare

Last updated

Common boobialla
Myoporum insulare.jpg
At Black Rock, Victoria
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Myoporum
Species:
M. insulare
Binomial name
Myoporum insulare
Synonyms [2]
List
    • Bertolonia glandulosaSpin
    • Myoporum adscendensR.Br.
    • Myoporum glandulosum(Spin) Spin
    • Myoporum glandulosum((Spin) A.DC. isonym
    • Myoporum mucronulatumA.DC.
    • Myoporum serratum var. glandulosum(Spin) Benth.
    • Myoporum serratum var. obovatumBenth.
    • Myoporum tasmanicumA.DC.
    • Myoporum tetrandrum var. adscendens(R.Br.) Domin nom. illeg.
    • Myoporum tetrandrum var. glandulosum(Spin) Domin
    • Myoporum serratumauct. non R.Br.: Bentham, G. (1870)

Myoporum insulare, commonly known as common boobialla, native juniper, [3] is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to coastal areas of Australia. It is a shrub or small tree which grows on dunes and coastal cliffs, is very salt tolerant and widely used in horticulture.

Contents

Myoporum insulare fruit Myoporum insulare IMG 20180202 141456 2 (25174324717).jpg
Myoporum insulare fruit
Fruit and flowers Myoporum insulare R.Br. (AM AK299064-1).jpg
Fruit and flowers

Description

Boobialla varies in form from a prostrate shrub to a small, erect tree growing to a height of 6 m (20 ft). It has thick, smooth green leaves which are 30–90 mm (1.2–3.5 in) long and 7–22 mm (0.28–0.87 in) wide with edges that are either untoothed or toothed toward the apex. The leaves are egg-shaped and the upper and lower surfaces are the same dull green colour. [4] [5] [6]

White flowers with purple spots appear in the leaf axils in clusters of three to eight and are 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) in diameter. There are five glabrous, smooth sepals and the tube formed by the petals is 2.3–3.6 mm (0.091–0.142 in) long with the lobes of the tube about the same length. The four stamens usually extend slightly beyond the tube. Peak flowering times are July to February in Western Australia and October to December in south-eastern Australia. Flowering is followed by the fruit which is a smooth, rounded purple to black drupe 4.5–9 mm (0.18–0.35 in) in diameter. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Taxonomy and naming

Myoporum insulare was first formally described by botanist Robert Brown in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae in 1810. [8] [9] The specific epithet insulare is a Latin word meaning "from an island". [10]

Distribution and habitat

Myoporum insulare occurs in coastal areas of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. [4] In New South Wales it occurs from Eden southward, although an isolated occurrence was recorded much further north on Brush Island. [7] It is also found on Lord Howe Island. [7] [11] In Victoria it is found in coastal areas but also inland in the west of that state. [12] Boobialla is common along the coast of South Australia [3] and in Western Australia it occurs south from Shark Bay to the South Australian border. [13] It grows in sandy soils, often between rocks or near sandstone. [7] [13] Myoporum insulare is invasive in several African countries and in the western coastal areas of the US. Invasive populations may include some other species of this genus. In South Africa this species is known as manatoka. [14]

Uses

Horticulture

Myoporum insulare may be used as a fast-growing hedge or windbreak species which withstands coastal winds and drought. [15] It is hardy in well-drained positions and is easily propagated from cuttings. [16] It is also used as rootstock for propagating many Eremophila species. [17]

Bush tucker

The purple fruit is edible, [18] and is good for making jams and jellies. [19]

Related Research Articles

<i>Myoporum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Myoporum is a genus of flowering plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. There are 30 species in the genus, eighteen of which are endemic to Australia although others are endemic to Pacific Islands, including New Zealand, and one is endemic to two Indian Ocean islands. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are arranged alternately and have white, occasionally pink flowers and a fruit that is a drupe.

<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 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 debilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Eremophila debilis, the winter apple or amulla, is a flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to an area extending from north Queensland to near the border between New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. It is a prostrate shrub with elliptic to lance-shaped or egg-shaped leaves and white, rarely deep mauve flowers.

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

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.

<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>Myoporum parvifolium</i> Species of plant

Myoporum parvifolium, commonly known as creeping boobialla, creeping myoporum, dwarf native myrtle or small leaved myoporum is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. It is a low, spreading shrub with long, trailing stems and white, star-shaped flowers and is endemic to southern Australia including Flinders Island.

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

Myoporum viscosum, commonly known as sticky boobialla, is a plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is unusual in that sometimes, especially when the leaves are crushed, it has an extremely unpleasant smell.

<i>Dampiera stricta</i> Species of flowering plant

Dampiera stricta commonly known as blue dampiera, is a flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae. It is a small sub-shrub with variable leaves and mostly blue, mauve or purple flowers.

<i>Prostanthera ovalifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Prostanthera ovalifolia, commonly known as the oval-leaf mintbush or purple mintbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is an erect shrub with egg-shaped leaves and groups of mauve to deep blue-purple flowers arranged in groups at the ends of branchlets.

<i>Myoporum acuminatum</i> Species of tree

Myoporum acuminatum, commonly known as waterbush, pointed boobialla or mangrove boobialla, is a flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It grows in rainforest or wet eucalyptus forest near the coast and in the Coastal Ranges, and is occasionally associated with mangroves. Occasionally it is found in the drier rainforests. It grows naturally as far south as Mimosa Rocks National Park in far south eastern New South Wales, and north to Fraser Island in Southern Queensland.

<i>Persoonia rigida</i> Species of flowering plant

Persoonia rigida, commonly known as the rigid-, hairy- or stiff geebung, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect to low-lying shrub with hairy young branchlets, lance-shaped to spatula-shaped leaves that are hairy when young, and yellow flowers borne in groups of up to twenty on a rachis up to 90 mm (3.5 in) long that continues to grow after flowering.

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

Myoporum montanum, commonly known as waterbush or boobialla, is a shrub native to Australia, New Guinea and Timor. The species is extremely variable in size growth habit and leaf form, with three primary forms recognised. Its occurrence in many places is restricted to coastal regions, watercourses and other locales with more reliable water supplies. It was this association with water that gave rise to the name water bush.

Myoporum mauritianum is a flowering plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to a few volcanic islands in the Indian Ocean. It is a small, low-branched shrub with serrated leaves and small white flowers and usually grows on calcarenite within 20 metres (70 ft) of the sea.

<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>Goodenia varia</i> Species of flowering plant

Goodenia varia, commonly known as sticky goodenia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to southern Australia. It is an ascending to prostrate shrub with elliptic leaves, usually with toothed edges, and racemes or thyrses of yellow flowers.

References

  1. ↑ IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.; Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). (2021). "Myoporum insulare". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T198149711A198150322. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T198149711A198150322.en . Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Myoporum insulare". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Myoporum insulare". Electronic Flora of South Australia Fact Sheet. State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Chinnock, Robert J. (2007). Eremophila and allied genera : a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae (1st ed.). Dural, NSW: Rosenberg. pp. 108–110. ISBN   9781877058165.
  5. 1 2 Costermans, L. (1981). Native Trees and Shrubs of South-eastern Australia. Australia: Rigby. ISBN   072701403X.
  6. 1 2 Marron, Michele. "Myoporum insulare". Australian National Botanic Garden. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Chinnock, Robert. "Myoporum insulare". Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, Plantnet. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Myoporum insulare". APNI. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. Vol. 1. London: Typis R Taylor, veneunt apud J. Johnson. p. 516. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 444.
  11. ↑ "Appendices Lord Howe Island Biodiversity Management Plan" (PDF). Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW). Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Common boobialla". Victorian Resources Online. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Myoporum insulare". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions . Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  14. ↑ Glen, Hugh & Van Wyk, Braam (2016) Guide to trees introduced into Southern Africa. pp230-231. Struik Nature, Cape Town
  15. ↑ Cochrane, G.R., Fuhrer, B.A., Rotherdam, E.M., Simmons, J.& M. and Willis, J.H. (1980). Flowers and Plants of Victoria and Tasmania. A.H. & A.W. Reed. ISBN   0-589-50256-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ Wrigley, John W.; Fagg, Murray (1983). Australian native plants : a manual for their propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping (2nd ed.). Sydney: Collins. pp. 271–272. ISBN   0002165759.
  17. ↑ Boschen, Norma; Goods, Maree; Wait, Russell (2008). Australia's eremophilas : changing gardens for a changing climate. Melbourne: Bloomings Books. pp. 23–24. ISBN   9781876473655.
  18. ↑ Ellis, M. & Norden, L. 2015. A Field Guide to Coastal Saltmarsh Plants in Victoria, South Gippsland Conservation Society, Inverloch. ISBN   9780959205008
  19. ↑ "Tucker Bush: Boobialla" . Retrieved 31 May 2018.
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