Eremophila exilifolia (Eremophila exilifolia)
Description
Eremophila exilifolia is an erect, flat-topped shrub with very sticky foliage usually growing to a height of between 0.3 and 1 m (1 and 3 ft). The branches are thickly coated with resin making them sticky and shiny but often becoming black due to the growth of sooty mould. The leaves are also thickly covered with resin and are crowded, often overlapping each other near the ends of the branches. They are also pitted, the pits often appearing as dark spots. The leaves are linear to almost club-shaped, 2.5–12 mm (0.1–0.5 in) long and 0.6–1.5 mm (0.02–0.06 in) wide. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a sticky stalk 3.3–15 mm (0.1–0.6 in) long. There are 5 sticky green sepals which are mostly 4–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long but differ in shape from each other. The petals are 15–22.5 mm (0.6–0.9 in) long and joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petals are a shade of lilac, either dark or very pale, rarely white and the inside of the tube is white with purple spots. The petal tube is mostly covered with glandular hairs but the inner side of the petal lobes is glabrous. The inside of the tube is filled with woolly hairs and the 4 stamens are fully enclosed in the petal tube. Flowering occurs from April to October and is followed by fruits which are a broad oval shape, glabrous and 4–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Lamiales
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Family: Scrophulariaceae
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Genus: Eremophila
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