''Eremophila bignoniiflora'', commonly known as Bignonia emu bush, creek wilga, dogwood, and river argee is a plant in the figwort family

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

and is endemic to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

and all mainland states of Australia. It is also used by various

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

groups as

bush medicine Bush medicine comprises traditional medicines used by Indigenous Australians, being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Indigenous people have been using various components of native Australian flora and some fauna as medicine for t ...

, and known as eurah or eura (

Kamilaroi The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

), gooramurra ( Jingulu), and kurumbimi (

Mudburra The Mudburra, also spelt Mudbara and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language Mudburra is one of the far eastern forms of the Pama-Nyungan Ngumbin languages. Country The Mudburra people live in ...

). It is a spreading, weeping shrub or small tree with long, strap-like leaves. Its leaves are among the longest in the '' Eremophila'' genus and the flowers are also relatively large, reflecting their adaptation to pollination by birds.

Description

''Eremophila bignoniiflora'' is a spreading, weeping shrub or small tree, usually with many branches, growing to a height of and sometimes almost as wide. Older specimens have a thick trunk and pale brown, perforated bark. The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches, mostly long, wide, linear or lance-shaped, gradually tapering towards both ends. Sometimes the margins of the leaves have a few teeth near their end. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a straight stalk usually long. The 5

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are green, overlap slightly, are egg-shaped, pointed, have a distinct central ridge and are mostly long. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are 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

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s 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 long. Eremophila bignoniiflora shrub

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described by botanist

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

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 Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

changed the name to ''Eremophila bignoniiflora''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''bignoniiflora'') refers to the similarity of the flowers of this species to those in the family

Bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpetvines.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: ...

. It is known as the eurah or eura bush by many

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

, who use it in

. The Euraba Artists and Papermakers (established 1998), an art collective, took their name from the eura bush. It is also known as ''gooramurra'' in the

Jingulu language Jingulu, also spelt Djingili, is an Australian language spoken by the Jingili people in the Northern Territory of Australia, historically around the township of Elliot. The language is one of several languages of the West Barkly family. The J ...

and ''kurumbimi'' in

Distribution

''Eremophila bignoniiflora'' occurs extensively in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

but also in the far north-east of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and the extreme north-west corner of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. There are scattered populations in the Northern Territory and northern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

between

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and

Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...

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

Ecology

The flowers of this species are bird pollinated.

Conservation status

The species is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

and as "vulnerable" in

under the

Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Government designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...

Uses

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 ''Candida albicans'' is an opportunistic pathogenic yeast that is a common member of the human gut flora. It can also survive outside the human body. It is detected in the gastrointestinal tract and mouth in 40–60% of healthy adults. It is us ...

'' and the

bacterium Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

Staphylococcus epidermidis ''Staphylococcus epidermidis'' is a Gram-positive bacterium, and one of over 40 species belonging to the genus '' Staphylococcus''. It is part of the normal human microbiota, typically the skin microbiota, and less commonly the mucosal microbio ...

''.

Horticulture

''Eremophila bignoniiflora'' is widely grown in gardens from the southern Victorian coast and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

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 ''Myoporum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae (formerly placed in Myoporaceae). There are 30 species in the genus, eighteen of which are endemic to Australia although others are endemic to Pacific Islands, in ...

''. 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.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2900835 Flora of New South Wales Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Queensland Flora of South Australia Flora of Victoria (state) Eudicots of Western Australia bignoniiflora Drought-tolerant trees Trees of Australia Plants described in 1848 Taxa named by George Bentham