Emu bush (Eremophila youngii)
Description
Eremophila youngii is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a dense, erect shrub with many of its parts covered with a layer of grey to yellowish-grey scales and with pink, purple or red flowers.Eremophila youngii is an erect, highly-branched, shrub which grows to a height of between 1 and 4 m (3 and 10 ft). Its branches, leaves, flower stalks and sepals are covered with a layer of grey or yellowish scales, although these are sometime lost as the part ages. The branches are rough due to the presence of persistent leaf bases and are covered with small, raised, warty lumps. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs along the branches, linear to elliptic in shape, tapering towards both ends, and mostly 24–45 mm (0.9–2 in) long, 2–5.5 mm (0.08–0.2 in) wide and have a prominent mid-vein on the lower side.The flowers are borne singly or in pairs in leaf axils on stalks 2–3.5 mm (0.08–0.1 in) long. There are 5 hairy, lance-shaped to triangular sepals which are 2–5.5 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long. The petals are 18–30 mm (0.7–1 in) long and joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is pink, purple or red and more or less hairy on both the inside and outside of the petal tube and its lobes, although the inside of the tube has long, soft hairs. The 4 stamens extend beyond the end of the petal tube. Flowering time depends on subspecies and the fruit which follows flowering is dry, cone-shaped to oval-shaped and 8–11 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long with a papery covering.
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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