EremophilaKrichauff Ranges Fuchsia (Eremophila ovata) Native Fuchsia (Eremophila latrobei) MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia (Eremophila macdonnellii) Silky Eremophila (Eremophila nivea)
Eremophila macdonnellii, from the family Scrophulariaceae, is a widespread variable shrub often found growing on sand dunes and sand plains, through Central Australia from the southern parts of Northern Territory, to northern South Australia and far south-western Queensland.
With a common name of MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia or MacDonnell’s Fuchsia, it was first formally described by botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1859. The plant was named after Sir Richard Graves Macdonnell, who was Governor of South Australia between 1855-1862.
A variable species, with both prostrate and upright forms, that under the right conditions can have a spread of up to 5 metres (1 to 2 metres being the norm) or a height of 2 metres.
The shrub has many branchlets, often giving a tangled appearance, and are covered in fine hairs, from sparse to dense. The flowers are deep violet to purple in colour. The flower opens into a tube shape, that flares into an notched upper lip and three spreading lower lobes.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Charophyta
- Class: Equisetopsida
- Subclass: Magnoliidae
- Superorder: Asteranae
- Order: Lamiales
- Family: Scrophulariaceae
- Genus: Eremophila
- Species: Eremophila macdonnellii
Footnote & References
- Many thanks to Barb Jim Gilfedder for the ID, member of the Alice Springs Field Naturalists Club, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/alicefieldnats/
- Wildflowers & Plants of Inland Australia, author Anne Urban, ISBN 0-646-41688-X, p182, https://ausemade.com.au/publications/
- Eremophila macdonnellii F.Muell., Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2889584
EremophilaKrichauff Ranges Fuchsia (Eremophila ovata) Native Fuchsia (Eremophila latrobei) MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia (Eremophila macdonnellii) Silky Eremophila (Eremophila nivea)
FloraFlora in Australia Flora Index Acacia Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paws) Annual Yellowtop Apium prostratum subsp. prostratum var filiforme Apple Bush (Pterocaulon sphacelatum) Australian Bluebell Australian Gossypium Banksia Batswing Coral Tree Billy Buttons Birdsville Indigo Blue Pincushion Bush Banana Callistemon Callitris drummondii (Drummond’s Cypress Pine) Calothamnus quadrifidus Cape Honeysuckle Cassia fistula (Golden Shower) Cattle Bush Common Heath Crotalaria Darwinia wittwerorum (Wittwer’s Mountain Bell) Daviesia oppositifolia (Rattle-pea) Desert Oaks Drumsticks Eremophila Eucalyptus Ficus Flannel Cudweed (Actinobole uliginosum) Georges Indigo Goatshead Burr (Sclerolaena bicornis) Golden Everlasting Goodenia Gossypium Grass and Grasses Grass Trees Grevillea Grey Germander Hakea Kapok Bush (Aerva javanica) Lambertia sp Leptospermum MacDonnell Ranges Cycad Maireana scleroptera Mexican Poppy Minnie Daisy Mistletoe Family Nardoo Native Apricot Nicotiana megalosiphon subspecies sessilifolia Nuytsia floribunda Orange Spade Flower Orchidaceae Parakeelyas (Calandrinia) Pebble Bush (Stylobasium spathulatum) Perennial Yellow Top Pink Everlasting Pink Rock Wort Poached Egg Daisy Portulaca Proteaceae Ptilotus Quandong Resurrection Fern Rosy Dock Ruby Saltbush Santalum Solanum Spike Centaury Spinifex Storkbill (Erodum cygnorum) Striped Mint Bush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tall Saltbush Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Tribulus eichlerianus Upside-down Plant Urodon dasyphylla Variable Daisy Waratah (Telopea) Wertabona Daisy White Cedar (Melia azedarach) White Indigo White Paper Daisy Wild Passionfruit Wild Stock Woolly-Headed Burr Daisy Woolly Bush Yellow-keeled Swainsona