Eremophila.
Family Scrophulariaceae > Tribe Myoporeae.
A genus of more than 200 (215 to over 250) species that are all endemic in Australia.
Common names such as Emu Bush and Poverty plant are confusing as they can apply to many species.
Other names include Turpentine bush and Winter Apple.
Some are compact, low-growing, multi-stemmed shrubs to around 1 m high.
Others are small trees up to 3 (8) m.
They can be evergreen or deciduous.
Branches can be smooth or have simple or stellate hairs.
The ends of the branches may be sticky from glandular hairs.
The mostly alternate leaves (occasionally opposite) are on stalks 1 – 12 mm long.
Blades are commonly linear to lanceolate or narrowly ovate and 1 to 6 cm long by 0.5 – 2 cm wide.
Young leaves may have sticky, stellate hairs while older leaves are smooth.
The edge is mostly smooth but some species have teeth.
Axillary flowers are mostly solitary but there can be 2 or 3 (4).
They are on stalks, many curved and from 1 to 25 mm long.
They come in a wide range of colours including pink, red, purples, green or rarely white.
There may be more than one colour or spots or streaks.
The calyx has 5 (4) sepals from 2 to 10 mm long.
They are fused at the base but occasionally for up to half their length.
After the petals fall the green sepals enlarge and may become cream to pinkish.
The bell-shaped corolla, of 5 petals joined at their bases, may or may not be bi-labiate.
It is 1 – 3 cm long and smooth or with some glandular hairs outside.
There can be hairs on the lobe edges, in the throat and on some of the lobes inside.
Flowers pollinated by insects (75 % of them) tend to have 2 petal lobes in the upper lip,
3 protruding lobes in the lower lip and stamens that do no extend past the tube.
These flowers are often white, blue or purple.
The other species, pollinated by birds, have 4 curving lobes in the upper lip,
one curved lobe in the lower lip and stamens that extend beyond the corolla.
These come in a wide range of colours.
There are 4 (5) stamens and a superior ovary with 2 locules (or 4 with placental septa).
The roughly ovoid fruit are dry or succulent and up to around 2 cm.
They can be smooth or have hairs and they contain 2 to 12 seeds.
There are many cultivars.
J.F.
