Eremophila scrobiculata

Eremophila scrobiculata is low, spreading shrub with sessile, linear leaves and lilac-coloured flowers and that is endemic to Western Australia. It grows on the slopes of low, stony hills on Wanna Station.

Eremophila scrobiculata

Priority One — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Eremophila
Species:
E. scrobiculata
Binomial name
Eremophila scrobiculata
Synonyms[1]

Eremophila sp. 'Wanna'

Description

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Eremophila scrobiculata is a shrub that typically grows to 30–50 cm (12–20 in) high and 80–100 cm (31–39 in) wide. Its branches are glabrous and grey. The leaves are arranged alternately, clustered near the ends of the branches, sessile, more or less glabrous, linear but thickened, 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long and 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) wide. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a pedicel 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) long. There are five triangular to lance-shaped, green sepals that are 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) long and 0.5–2.5 mm (0.020–0.098 in) wide with a few scattered hairs. The petal tube is lilac-coloured, 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) long and lacks spots. The four stamens are enclosed in the petal tube. Flowering mainly occurs from June to August but also at other times after rainfall.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

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This species was first formally described in 2016 by Bevan Buirchell and Andrew Phillip Brown in the journal Nuytsia from specimens on Wanna Station (north of Mount Augustus National Park) in 2005.[3][4] The specific epithet (scrobiculata) is from the Latin scrobiculatus meaning "scrobiculate", or "furrowed or having the surface dotted all over with small round depressions" referring to the leaves.[3][5]

Distribution and habitat

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Eremophila scrobiculata is only known from the type location where it grows on the slopes of small, stony hills in the Gascoyne biogeographic region.[2][3][6]

Conservation

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Eremophila scrobiculata classified as "Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife,[6] meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Eremophila scrobiculata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. ^ 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. 319. ISBN 9780980348156.
  3. ^ a b c d Buirchell, Bevan; Brown, Andrew P. (2016). "New species of Eremophila (Scrophulariaceae): thirteen geographically restricted species from Western Australia" (PDF). Nuytsia. 27: 277–279. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Eremophila scrobiculata". APNI. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  5. ^ Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya, Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 303. ISBN 9780958034180.
  6. ^ a b "Eremophila scrobiculata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  7. ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 19 March 2020.