Eremophila lactea is a crititically endangered plant species which is indigenous to Western Australia

Western 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...

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Description

This species is an erect shrub, between 1 and 3.5 metres in height. It has stalkless, overlapping leaves which are 10 to 31 mm long and 2 to 6 mm wide and often often hide the branchlets. It produces 3 or 4 pale lilac flowers in the leaf axils between September and November in its native range. These are a deeper lilac inside with light purple spots in the tube. The fruits which follow are ovoid to cylindrical and up to 3.5 mm long.

Taxonomy

Eremophila lactea was first formally described by botanist Robert Chinnock in Nuytsia

Nuytsia

Nuytsia may refer to:*Nuytsia , the monospecific genus containing the species Nuytsia floribunda, the Western Australian Christmas Tree;*Nuytsia , the journal of the Western Australian Herbarium....

in 1985.
Special Feature: It is named for the milky white substances that appear on the branches and upper leaves.

Distribution

The total wild population is 547 plants, growing in four roadside locations to the north of Esperance

Esperance, Western Australia

Esperance is a large town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The shire of Esperance is home to 9,536 people as of the 2006 census, its major industries are tourism, agriculture,...

. The species was declared "Rare Flora" under the Wildlife Conservation Act in 1996 and "Critically Endangered" in 1998.. Threats to the population include road maintenance activities, fire, and the illegal taking of cuttings.