Eremophila pusilliflora is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a low, open shrub with narrow egg-shaped leaves and flowers which vary in colour from red to cream with a red tinge. It grows in the Pilbara region.
| Eremophila pusilliflora | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Scrophulariaceae |
| Genus: | Eremophila |
| Species: | E. pusilliflora
|
| Binomial name | |
| Eremophila pusilliflora | |
Description
editEremophila pusilliflora is an open shrub growing to 30–50 cm (10–20 in) high and 50–100 cm (20–40 in) wide. The leaves are arranged alternately, egg-shaped, 6–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.08–0.2 in) wide and clustered at the ends of the branches. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a woolly stalk 4–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long. There are 5 green sepals which age to reddish-pink and are 11–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide. The petals are variably coloured, ranging from red to pink or purple, sometimes cream with a red tinge, 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and joined at their lower end to form a bell-shaped tube which has a few glandular hairs inside and out. The four stamens extend beyond the end of the petal tube. Flowering time is mainly from April to September.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming
editEremophila pusilliflora was first formally described by Bevan Buirchell and Andrew Brown in 2016 and the description was published in Nuytsia. Prior to its formal description it was known as Eremophila sp. 'Princess Range'.[4][2] The specific epithet (pusilliflora) is derived from the Latin words pusillus meaning "little"[5]: 644 and flos meaning "flower",[5]: 45 referring to the flowers of this species which are smaller than those of the similar "E. forrestii.[2]
Distribution and habitat
editThis eremophila grows on rocky hilltops and in low shrubland on plains which are flooded in winter and drain into the Ashburton River in the Pilbara biogeographic region.[2][3][6]
Conservation
editEremophila pusilliflora has been classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife[6] meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Eremophila pusilliflora". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d Buirchell, Bevan; Brown, Andrew P. (2016). "New species of Eremophila (Scrophulariaceae): thirteen geographically restricted species from Western Australia". Nuytsia. 27: 271–273.
- ^ a b Brown, Andrew; Buirchell, Bevan (2011). A field guide to the eremophilas of Western Australia (1st ed.). Hamilton Hill, W.A.: Simon Nevill Publications. p. 315. ISBN 9780980348156.
- ^ "Eremophila pusilliflora". APNI. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- ^ a b Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- ^ a b "Eremophila pusilliflora". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 22 April 2016.