Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms  > Eudicots > Asterids > Lamiales > Scrophulariaceae > Eremophila  bignoniiflora

Other links:

Plant  information

Common name:               Emu Bush  

• Also, Bignonia creek wilga, dogwood, eurah, gooramurra, kurumbimi (Jingulu and Mudburra languages) and river argee 

Conservation status:   unknown

• The species is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife 

• As "vulnerable" in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988

Etymology:   

• Eremophila is derived from the Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos) meaning "lonely" or "desert" and φίλος (phílos) meaning “dear" or "beloved” alluding to the species' adaptation to arid environments

• The specific epithet (bignoniiflora) refers to the similarity of the flowers of this species to those in the family Bignoniaceae

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a straight stalk usually 9–18 mm long

• The 5 sepals are green, overlap slightly, are egg-shaped, pointed, have a distinct central ridge and are mostly 5–6.5 mm long

• The petals are 20–30 mm long, joined at their bases to form a tube

• The petal tube is cream with crimson spots mostly on the lower petal lobe and inside the tube

• There are 4 stamens which are about the same length as the petal tube

• Flowers appear between May and August and are followed by fruit which are dry, oval-shaped and 20–30 mm long

• The flowers of this species are bird pollinated

• The flowers are also relatively large, reflecting their adaptation to pollination by birds

Fruit:                         

• x

Leaves:         

• Its leaves are among the longest in the Eremophila genus

• The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches, mostly 110–160 mm long, 4–9 mm wide

• Linear or lance-shaped, gradually tapering towards both ends

• Sometimes the margins of the leaves have a few teeth near their end

Stem & branches:    

• It is a spreading, weeping shrub or small tree, usually with many branches, growing to a height of 1–8 m and sometimes almost as wide

• Older specimens have a thick trunk and pale brown, perforated bark

Roots:         

• x

Habit:        

• It is a spreading, weeping shrub or small tree with long, strap-like leaves

• 
  

Habitat:   

• The species occurs in floodplains surrounding major drainage systems and sometimes as scattered individuals in other places

Distribution:                  

•  Endemic to the Northern Territory and all mainland states of Australia

• Occurs extensively in NSW and Queensland but also in the far north-east of South Australia and the extreme north-west corner of Victoria

• There are scattered populations in the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia between Derby and Halls Creek

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy and naming

  • The species was first formally described by botanist George Bentham in 1848 as Stenochilus bignoniiflorus

  • The description was published in Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia 

  • In 1859 Ferdinand von Mueller changed the name to Eremophila bignoniiflora 

• Indigenous use

  • Aboriginal people used gooramurra as a bush medicine and the antimicrobial activity of oils extracted from it showed it to be effective against the yeast Candida albicans and the bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis

• Horticulture

  • Eremophila bignoniiflora is widely grown in gardens from the southern Victorian coast and Sydney to central Queensland and is suitable for use as a screening plant in dry locations or as a feature plant

  • It is difficult to propagate from cuttings but can be grown from seed or by grafting onto Myoporum

  • In grows best in full sun and well-drained soil but is a smaller, more open shrub in clay

  • It is very drought tolerant and recovers from frost, especially as a mature specimen.

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eremophila_bignoniiflora (2023)