Desert foxglove

Description

Eremophila platythamnos, commonly known as desert foxglove, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Australia. It is an erect shrub with short, broad leaves and purple, mauve, blue or pink flowers.Eremophila platythamnos is an erect shrub which grows to a height of between 0.3 and 1.5 m (1 and 5 ft). The branches are sometimes hairy and often sticky and shiny due to the presence of resin. The leaves are arranged alternately along the branches, lance shaped to egg-shaped or almost circular, 5–20 mm (0.2–0.8 in) long, 2–11 mm (0.08–0.4 in) wide, hairy or glabrous depending on subspecies and often sticky due to the presence of resin.The flowers are usually borne singly or in pairs in leaf axils on a stalk 4–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long. There are 5 overlapping, pink to purple, lance-shaped to broadly egg-shaped sepals which are 4–8.5 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long but which enlarge after flowering to 6–14 mm (0.2–0.6 in). The petals are 14–20 mm (0.6–0.8 in) long and are joined at their lower end to form a tube. The petal tube is purple, mauve, blue or pink on the outside and white inside, hairy on the outside but the inside of the petal lobes is glabrous while the tube is filled with long, soft hairs. The 4 stamens are fully enclosed in the petal tube. Flowering occurs between April and November and is followed by fruits which are oblong in shape 5.3–6.5 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long and have a hairy, papery covering.