''Myoporum viscosum'', commonly known as sticky boobialla, is a plant 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 to

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 ...

. It is unusual in that sometimes, especially when the leaves are crushed, it has an extremely unpleasant smell.

Description

''Myoporum viscosum'' is a shrub which sometimes grows to in height with young branches that are flattened and sticky. The leaves are arranged alternately and mostly long, wide, thick and stiff. The base of the leaf partly wraps around the stem and the leaf blade is folded or curved with serrated edges and has many oil dots. The flowers appear in the leaf axils in clusters of 5 to 8 on a stalk long. There are 5 triangular

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 and 5

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 joined at their bases to form a bell-shaped tube. The petals are white with a slight purplish flush and purple spots. The petal tube is long, the lobes are about the same length and the inside of the tube as well as the bases of the lobes are hairy. The main flowering period is from June to November and is followed by fruits which are succulent, rounded purplish

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

s around in diameter.

Taxonomy and naming

''Myoporum viscosum'' was first formally described by botanist Robert Brown in ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

'' in 1810 from a specimen collected at

Memory Cove Memory Cove is a bay located on the East coast of Jussieu Peninsula on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia approximately South-East of Port Lincoln. It is one of the natural features named by Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 M ...

. 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 ...

is derived from the

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 ''viscum'' meaning "bird-lime" with the ending ''-osus'' "abounding in", that is, "sticky" or "viscid".

Distribution and habitat

For many years this species has been confused with the much more common species ''

Myoporum petiolatum ''Myoporum petiolatum'', commonly known as sticky boobialla, is a plant in the figwort family Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to the south-east of continental Australia. For many years this species has been confused with the much less common sp ...

'' which has thinner, noticeably petiolate and non-odorous leaves. ''Myoporum viscosum'' has a restricted distribution encompassing

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

and coastal areas of the Eyre and Yorke peninsulas.

Use in horticulture

Sticky boobialla is a hardy plant which can tolerate salt spray and can be used as a low screening plant. It is readily propagated from cuttings and grows best in full sun.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6948025 viscosum Flora of South Australia Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)