''Eremophila neglecta'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the figwort

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a shrub which branches from ground level and which has lance-shaped leaves and orange-red flowers. It occurs in

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

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 ...

Description

''Eremophila neglecta'' is a shrub with its branches sticky and shiny due to the presence of

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...

and which grows to a height of between . Many of the branches arise from ground level and are rough due to the presence of raised leaf bases. The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches and are mostly long, wide, narrow lance-shaped and which taper to a leaf stalk long. Young leaves are densely hairy but become

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

, sticky and shiny as they age. The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on an S-shaped, sticky stalk, mostly long. There are 5 overlapping, egg-shaped

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 which are mostly long, glabrous on the outer surface and hairy along the edges and on the inner surface. The sepals are coloured orange to purplish-red, or yellow with a pinkish tinge. 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 and joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is orange-red with red petal lobes and the inside of the tube is yellow with fine orange spots. Occasionally the petal tube is pure yellow. The outside of the petal tube and both sides of the lobes are covered with

glandular In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

hairs and the inside of the tube is filled with long, soft hairs. The 4 stamens extend beyond the end of the petal tube. Flowering occurs mainly from July to September and is followed by fruits which are woody, oval to cone-shaped with a swollen base and a pointed end and are long. Eremophla neglecta

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described in 1914 by

John McConnell Black John McConnell Black (28 April 1855 – 2 December 1951) was a Scottish botanist who emigrated to Australia in 1877 and eventually documented and illustrated thousands of flora in South Australia in the early 20th century. His publications assi ...

and the description was published in ''Transansactions and Proceedings of the

Royal Society of South Australia The Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) is a learned society whose interest is in science, particularly, but not only, of South Australia. The major aim of the society is the promotion and diffusion of scientific knowledge, particularly in rel ...

''. 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 ...

(''neglecta'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "disregarded" or "overlooked".

Distribution and habitat

''Eremophila neglecta'' occurs in the northern part of South Australia and the southern part of the Northern Territory where it grows in stony clay on rocky hills and plains, usually in mulga

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

Conservation

This species is classified as "of least concern" in the Northern Territory.

Uses

Indigenous use

The leaves of this species were used by

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

people in an infusion to promote well-being.

Essential oils

''Eremophila neglecta'' leaves contain serrulatanes which have antimicrobial activity against ''

Mycobacterium ''Mycobacterium'' is a genus of over 190 species in the phylum Actinomycetota, assigned its own family, Mycobacteriaceae. This genus includes pathogens known to cause serious diseases in mammals, including tuberculosis ('' M. tuberculosis'') and ...

'' species and the

naphthoquinone Naphthoquinones constitute a class of organic compounds structurally related to naphthalene. Two isomers are common for the parent naphthoquinones: * 1,2-Naphthoquinone * 1,4-Naphthoquinone Natural products * Alkannin * Hexahydroxy-1,4-napht ...

biflorin.

Horticulture

The bright red flowers of this eremophila are especially attractive as well as providing food for nectar-feeding birds. It can be propagated from cuttings with difficulty and most garden specimens have been

grafted Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...

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 ...

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...

. It grows in a wide variety of soil types but does best in full sun, is very drought tolerant and is only damaged by the most severe frosts.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15594511 neglecta Flora of South Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Plants described in 1914 Taxa named by John McConnell Black