Eremophila elderi

Description

Eremophila elderi is a shrub which grows to a height between 0.5 and 1.5 m (2 and 5 ft) with shiny, sticky leaves due to the presence of a resin which has a characteristic odour. Its branches are rough from the remains of winged leaf bases after the leaves have fallen. The leaves are arranged alternately, often clustered near the ends of the branches, and are mostly 29–53 mm (1–2 in) long, 8–25 mm (0.3–1 in) wide, usually elliptic to lance-shaped with wing-like extensions at their lower ends. The leaf margins are sometimes more or less serrated and the surface of the leaves is sometimes glabrous, other times covered with many glandular hairs. The flowers are borne in groups of two to five in leaf axils on hairy stalks, usually 10–21 mm (0.4–0.8 in) long. There are 5 overlapping, sticky, lance-shaped to egg-shaped sepals which are different sizes but mostly 10–21 mm (0.4–0.8 in) long. The sepals are green to reddish-brown and are covered with glandular hairs. The petals are 18–28 mm (0.71–1.1 in) long and joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is pale to very pale lilac, sometimes a darker shade of lilac with distinct red to purplish bands inside the tube. The tube is covered with glandular hairs on the outside but the petal lobes are glabrous on the inside. The inside of the tube is filled with woolly hairs. The 4 stamens are fully enclosed in the tube. Flowering occurs from May to October and is followed by fruits which are a narrow oval shape, partly hairy and yellow-brown to silvery in colour.