Eremophila decipiens
Eremophila decipiens, commonly known as slender fuchsia bush or narrow-leaved fuchsia bush is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to an area extending from the south-west of Western Australia to southern parts of South Australia. It is low, sprawling shrub with lance-shaped leaves and red, orange or yellow flowers on a long, S-shaped stalk.
Description
Eremophila decipiens is a low, sprawling shrub with many tangled branches growing to a height of between. The ends of the branches and the leaves are sticky and shiny due to the presence of resin. The leaves are arranged alternately, sometimes densely clustered, sometimes scattered along the stems. They are glabrous, linear to lance-shaped, sometimes with a few irregular teeth on the margins, mostly long and wide.The flowers are borne singly in leaf axils on a S-shaped stalk long and at least twice as long as the longest sepal. There are 5 egg-shaped to triangular, slightly overlapping sepals mostly long which are slightly hairy and sticky. The petals are long and joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is red, orange or sometimes yellow and lacks spots. The outer surface of the petal tube and lobes are usually glabrous, often sticky while the inside is covered with short hairs. The four stamens extend beyond the end of the tube. Flowering occurs from February to December, although in the Esperance region mostly between July and November. The fruits are dry, cylinder-shaped to almost spherical, glabrous with a papery covering and are long.
Eremophila decipiens is sometimes mistaken for Eremophila glabra but the latter species lacks a long, S-shaped flower stalk.
Taxonomy
The species was first formally described in 1921 by Carl Hansen Ostenfeld in Biologiske meddelelser, Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. The specific epithet is from the Latin decipiens, 'deceiving', 'false', referring to the similarity of this species to E. maculata.Two subspecies are accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
- Eremophila decipiens Ostenf. subsp. decipiens that has leaves that are wider than and petals that are glabrous on the outside;
- Eremophila decipiens subsp. linearifolia Chinnock that has leaves that are narrower than and petals that have glandular hairs on the outside.
The epithet linearifolia is from Latin, meaning 'long narrow leaved'.