Eremophila hurteri A.L.Curtis & K.R.Thiele, 2022

Curtis, Amy L., Grierson, Pauline F., Batley, Jacqueline, Naaykens, Jeremy, Fowler, Rachael M., Severn-Ellis, Anita & Thiele, Kevin R., 2022, Resolution of the Eremophila tietkensii (Scrophulariaceae) species complex based on congruence between morphological and molecular pattern analyses, Australian Systematic Botany 35 (1), pp. 1-18 : 16

Eremophila hurteri A.L.Curtis & K.R.Thiele sp. nov.

Type: base of Calvert Range (campsite), Calvert Range , WA, 7 August 2000, A. A. Burbidge 738 (holo: PERTH 07512821 !).

Eremophila sp. Calvert Range ( A. A. Burbidge 738) Western Australian Herbarium: L. J. Biggs & C. M. Parker, Nuytsia 23: 504 (2013).

Intricate flat-topped shrubs 1–1.5 m tall, aromatic. Young stems with indumentum of short, woolly, usually yellowish, sometimes grey, hairs, sometimes appearing sericeous, obscurely tuberculate beneath the indumentum; older stems grey to dark brown, scarcely fissured, often distinctly tuberculate, at first with prominently raised and knob-like persistent leaf bases. Leaves scattered, silvery, petiolate; petioles (7–)8–10(–11) mm long, decurrent; lamina lanceolate, (45–)50–69.5(–84.5) × (9–)9.5–12.5(–14) mm, finely strumose; indumentum dense, very short, white to grey, woolly, often matted-resinous, comprising simple, uniseriate hairs, the terminal cell much longer than the others and attenuate; margins entire; apex attenuate. Flowers 1 or 2 per axil, pedicellate; pedicels (4.5–)9–13(–15) mm long, straight to curved, with indumentum as for stems. Sepals 5, imbricate, subequal, elliptic to oblanceolate, broadly acute to obtuse, sometimes mucronulate, 7–9 × 2–3.5 mm in flower, yellow in bud, turning white or pink or mauve at anthesis, densely short-tomentose with ±silky hairs, enlarging after flowering and then glabrescent and with prominent veins. Corolla 20–28 mm long, white to pale purple or mauve; outer surface of lobes and tube with scattered eglandular hairs particularly near the margins, often almost glabrous; mid-inner tube lanate with eglandular hairs. Stamens 4, included; filaments with woolly eglandular hairs towards base, glabrous above; anthers glabrous. Ovary densely sericeous with yellow, simple, eglandular hairs; style with sparse, long spreading, eglandular hairs for most of its length. Mature fruits not seen.

Distribution and habitat

Endemic in the Little Sandy Desert IBRA bioregion ( Thackway and Cresswell 1995). Current records indicate a geographic range of ~ 220 km from north to south either side of Lake Disappointment (Western Australian Herbarium’s FloraBase, see https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/). Occurs on sandstone ranges, rocky scree slopes and stony plains at the bases of low ranges.

Phenology

Flowers in late winter to at least mid-spring, with fruits maturing from early spring onward.

Conservation status

Eremophila hurteri is currently known from six populations. It is not currently listed under the Conservation Codes for Western Australian flora (Western Australian Herbarium’s FloraBase, see https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/).

Etymology

Named in honour of Johan Hurter, ecologist and botanist at EcoRex Environmental Consulting and previously the Rio Tinto Identification Botanist at the Western Australian Herbarium. Johan first suggested that there may be multiple species within Eremophila tietkensii , and segregated E. hurteri (as E. sp. Calvert Range), E. naaykensii (as E. sp. Hamersley Range) and E. sp. Rudall River.

Notes

Eremophila sp. Calvert Range was previously included in E. tietkensii , from which it can be distinguished by an indumentum of yellow, sericeous, simple, eglandular hairs on the ovary (simple eglandular and glandular hairs in E. tietkensii ) and by the strumose leaf surfaces (not strumose in E. tietkensii ). It almost certainly belongs in the clade of Eremophila that contains sections Eremaeae, Pulchrisepalae, Eremophila and Eriocalyx ( Fowler 2018) . However, phylogenetic relationships within this clade are poorly resolved with low support, and the precise phylogenetic relationships of E. hurteri are currently unknown.

Other specimens examined

WESTERN AUSTRALIA. At base of Durba Hills, Wiluna , A. A. Burbidge 733 ( PERTH 07765886 ); Rudall River Region, East Pilbara , R. P Hart 571 ( PERTH 01226991 ); 4.5 km Sth Parngurr, Little Sandy Desert, P. K. Latz 17825 ( PERTH 08305382 ); 28 Aug. 2004, W. P. Muir WPM 1046 ( PERTH 08609942 ); 40 km S of Rudall River, ∼ 500 km S of Broome, East Pilbara , P. G. Wilson 10540 ( PERTH 03878570 ) .