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Eremophila (plant)
Encyclopedia
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of plants of the family Scrophulariaceae
Scrophulariaceae
Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family, are a family of flowering plants. The plants are annual or perennial herbs with flowers with bilateral or rarely radial symmetry. Members of the Scrophulariaceae have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including...
, with species known by the common names of Emu Bush, Poverty Bush or Fuchsia Bush. Currently, there are 215 recognised species, all of which are endemic to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. One species, Eremophila debilis
Eremophila debilis
Eremophila debilis , also known as Winter Apple or Amulla, is a prostrate shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:...
which occurs in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, is thought to be naturalised.
Description
The size and habit of Eremophilas varies greatly, but they can be readily identified from their flowerFlower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s which have corollas with two upper lobes and three lower lobes. As the flower ages, the corolla falls off and the calyx enlarges and becomes coloured as the fruit enlarges.
Species
Species include:- Eremophila abietinaEremophila abietinaEremophila abietina, also known as Spotted Poverty Bush, is a shrub which is native to Western Australia.-Description:Plants are usually between 0.5 and 2 metres in height and produce violet, purple or white flowers between the end of winter and the middle of spring .-Taxonomy:The species was first...
- Spotted Poverty Bush - Eremophila alternifoliaEremophila alternifoliaEremophila alternifolia , commonly known as Poverty Bush , is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:Plants vary in height from 1 to 4 metres and have purple, red, pink, white, cream, or yellow flowers from early winter to early autumn....
- Poverty Bush - Eremophila bignoniifloraEremophila bignoniifloraEremophila bignoniiflora is a shrub or tree which is native to Australia.-Description:This species can grow to a height varying from 1 metre to 8 metres...
- Bignonia Emu Bush - Eremophila bowmaniiEremophila bowmaniiEremophila bowmanii, also known as Silver Turkeybush, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:This species grows up to 2 metres in height, has white to grey tomentose leaves, branches and sepals. The flowers are lilac or occasionally white...
- Silver Turkeybush - Eremophila brevifoliaEremophila brevifoliaEremophila brevifolia, also known as Spotted Eremophila, is a shrub which is native to the south-west of Western Australia. It usually grows to between 0.9 and 2 metres high and produces white, pink or blue flowers between July and September in its native range....
- Spotted Eremophila - Eremophila debilisEremophila debilisEremophila debilis , also known as Winter Apple or Amulla, is a prostrate shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:...
- Winter Apple - Eremophila clarkeiEremophila clarkeiEremophila clarkei is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:This species is slender and erect in habit and usually grows to between 0.3 and 3 metres in height...
- Turpentine Bush - Eremophila cuneifoliaEremophila cuneifoliaEremophila cuneifolia, also known as Pinyuru, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:This species usually has a spreading habit and grows to between 0.5 and 1.8 metres high. The flowers are pink, purple or blue and appear between early winter and mid spring .-Taxonomy:The species was...
- Pinyuru - Eremophila debilisEremophila debilisEremophila debilis , also known as Winter Apple or Amulla, is a prostrate shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:...
- Winter Apple or Amulla - Eremophila decipiensEremophila decipiensEremophila decipiens is a shrub which is native to Australia. It is also known as Slender Fuchsia, although it is not closely related to the Fuchsia.-Description:This species usually grows to between 0.1 and 1.8 metres in height...
- Slender Fuchsia - Eremophila delisseri - Frontage Poverty Bush
- Eremophila desertiEremophila desertiEremophila deserti is a shrub which is endemic to Australia.Common names for this species include Turkey Bush, Dogwood, Poison Bush Ellangowan Poison Bush, Pencil Bush and Carrot Bush...
- Eremophila dichroanthaEremophila dichroanthaEremophila dichroantha, also known as Bale-hook Eremophila, is a shrub which is native to Western Australia. It superficially resembles Broom and usually grows to between 0.6 and 3 metres high...
- Bale-hook Eremophila - Eremophila denticulataEremophila denticulataEremophila denticulata, also known as Toothed Eremophila, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:This species grows to between 0.5 and 2.5 metres high and produces yellow, orange, red or pink flowers.-Taxonomy:...
- Toothed Poverty Bush - Eremophila divaricataEremophila divaricataEremophila divaricata, also known as Spreading Emu Bush , is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:Plants are up to 1.5 metres in height and have mauve or pinkish-lilac flowers with spots on the lower lip and inside the throat....
- Spreading Emu Bush - Eremophila duttoniiEremophila duttoniiEremophila duttonii is a shrub or small tree which is native to inland Australia.-Description:It grows up to 3.5 metres in height and has...
- Budda or Harlequin Fuchsia Bush - Eremophila eriocalyxEremophila eriocalyxEremophila eriocalyx, also known as Desert Pride, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:It is a spindly shrub which usually grows to between 0.8 and 2 metres high...
- Desert Pride - Eremophila fraseriEremophila fraseriEremophila fraseri, also known as Burra, is a shrub which is native to Western Australia. It usually grows to between 0.5 and 3 metres high...
- Burra - Eremophila freelingiiEremophila freelingiiEremophila freelingii, also known as Limestone Fuchsia or Rock Fuchsia Bush , is a shrub which is native to Australia. Despite its common names, it is not related to the Fuchsia.-Description:This species grows to 2 metres high...
- Limestone Fuchsia or Rock Fuchsia Bush - Eremophila gibbifoliaEremophila gibbifoliaEremophila gibbifolia is a shrub species which is native to Australia.Plants are 0.3 to 0.9 metres in height and have warty leaves which are 1.5 to 5 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide...
- Coccid Emu-bush - Eremophila glabraEremophila glabraEremophila glabra , also known as Tar Bush, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:It grows to between 0.1 and 3 metres in height and has green, yellow, orange, red or brown flowers between early autumn and summer .-Taxonomy:The species was first published in 1810 by botanist Robert...
- Tar Bush (many forms in cultivation) - Eremophila hygrophanaEremophila hygrophanaEremophila hygrophana is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:This species is a small , erect shrub which generally grows to between 0.25 and 0.75 metres in height and has purple or blue flowers between late winter and early summer .-Distribution:The species occurs in Western Australia....
- Eremophila lacteaEremophila lacteaEremophila lactea is a crititically endangered plant species which is indigenous to Western Australia.-Description:...
- Milky Emu Bush - Eremophila laaniiEremophila laaniiEremophila laanii is a shrub which is native to Western Australia.-Description:Plants are usually between 1 and 2.5 metres in height and have white, pink or purple flowers...
- Eremophila latrobeiEremophila latrobeiEremophila latrobei , also known as Crimson Turkey Bush, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:This species generally grows to 2 metres in height. It has pubescent, linear or linear-oblanceolate leaves which are up to 9 cm long...
- Crimson Turkey Bush - Eremophila longifoliaEremophila longifoliaEremophila longifolia , also known as Berrigan , is a shrub or tree which is native to Australia.-Description:It grows to between one and six metres in height and has yellow, orange, red or pink flowers between early autumn and early summer . These are followed by rounded fleshy fruits which are 5...
- Berrigan - Eremophila macdonnelliiEremophila macdonnelliiEremophila macdonnellii , also known as MacDonnell's Desert Fuchsia, is a shrub which is native to central Australia.-Description:It is a small shrub covered with short hairs which grows up to a height of 50 cm...
- MacDonnell's Desert Fuchsia - Eremophila maculataEremophila maculataEremophila maculata , also known as Spotted Emu Bush or Native Fuchsia, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:...
- Spotted Emu Bush (most commonly cultivated species) - Eremophila maitlandiiEremophila maitlandiiEremophila maitlandii, also known as Shark Bay Poverty Bush, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Taxonomy:The species was first formally in 1870 described by botanist George Bentham in Flora Australiensis....
- Shark Bay Poverty Bush - Eremophila miniataEremophila miniataEremophila miniata, also known as Kopi Poverty Bush, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Taxonomy:The species was first formally in 1942 described by botanist C.A.Gardner in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia....
- Kopi Poverty Bush - Eremophila mitchelliiEremophila mitchelliiEremophila mitchellii , also known as False Sandalwood, is a shrub or small tree which is native to Australia.-Description:This species grows as a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree up to 10 metres in height. The leaves are linear to linear-lancelote and range between 2 and 6 cm in length and...
- False Sandalwood - Eremophila niveaEremophila niveaEremophila nivea , also known as Silky Eremophila, is a shrub which is native to Western Australia.-Description:It is a whitish-grey tomentose shrub that grows to between 1 and 2 metres in height and has blue, purple, or violet flowers between late winter and mid spring .-Taxonomy:The first...
- Silky Eremophila - Eremophila oldfieldiiEremophila oldfieldiiEremophila oldfieldii , also known as Pixie Bush, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:It grows to between 1 and 6 metres in height and has yellow, orange, red or pink flowers between late autumn and mid spring .-Taxonomy:The first description of this species was published in 1859...
- Pixie Bush - Eremophila oppositifoliaEremophila oppositifoliaEremophila oppositifolia , also known as Weeooka or Twin -leaf Emu Bush, is a shrub or small tree which is native to Australia.-Description:...
- Weeooka - Eremophila psilocalyx
- Eremophila racemosaEremophila racemosaEremophila racemosa, also known as Showy Eremophila, is a shrub which is native to Western Australia.-Description:Plants are usually between 0.5 and 1.7 metres in height and produce purple, pink, red or white flowers between the end of winter and the start of summer .-Taxonomy:The species was first...
- Showy Eremophila - Eremophila scaberulaEremophila scaberulaEremophila scaberula is a critically endangered plant species which is indigenous to Western Australia. It is a low growing shrub with crowded leaves which produces solitary pale to dark purple flowers in the leaf axils predominantly between September and October in its native range.The total...
- Rough Emu Bush - Eremophila scopariaEremophila scopariaEremophila scoparia , also known as Silver Emubush, is a shrub which is native to Australia.-Description:This species can grow up to 3 metres in height, has a silvery, broom-like appearance and lilac or white flowers which appear year round...
- Silver Emu Bush - Eremophila subteretifolia - groundcover species.
- Eremophila youngiiEremophila youngiiEremophila youngii is a species of shrub that occurs in arid and semi-arid areas of Western Australia.-Description:It is a shrub or small tree from one to 5.4 metres high...
Taxonomy
The genus was first formally described in 1810 by botanist Robert BrownRobert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. Eremophila is derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
words eremos (desert) and phileo (love), alluding to the species' adaptation to arid environments.
Ecology
There are two groupings of Eremophilas, those with flowers designed to attract insectInsect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and those designed to attract bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. Flowers of the former kind tend to be bluish-purple or white. The lower lips of the flower project forward to provide a landing area for the insects. The bird-attracting kind have red, orange, yellow or green flowers with lower lobes that point downwards to discourage insect nectar feeders. The longer stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s brush nectar onto the birds head as the bird's beak reaches down the floral tube toward the nectar.
Large amounts of the fruits are eaten by emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
s, passing through their gut. By this method the seeds are dispersed and provided with fertiliser at the same time.
Distribution
They occur across Australia, primarily in arid regions, with the majority of species occurring in Western AustraliaWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.