Aromatic emu bush facts for kids

Eremophila elderi, also known as aromatic emu bush, is a special flowering plant. It belongs to the figwort family, called Scrophulariaceae. This plant is found only in central Australia. You can find it near the border between Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. It's a tall, bushy plant that smells nice. Its leaves and branches are a bit sticky, and its flowers are usually pale white. The name elderi honors an early Australian businessman named Thomas Elder.

What Does it Look Like?

Eremophila elderi is a shrub that usually grows between 0.5 and 1.5 meters (about 1.5 to 5 feet) tall. Its leaves and branches are shiny and sticky. This stickiness comes from a special resin that also gives the plant its unique smell.

The branches feel rough because of old leaf parts that stay on after the leaves fall off. The leaves grow one after another, often grouped near the ends of the branches. They are usually 29-53 millimeters (about 1 to 2 inches) long and 8-25 millimeters (about 0.3 to 1 inch) wide. They are often shaped like an oval or a spear, with wing-like parts at their bottom. The edges of the leaves can sometimes be slightly jagged. The surface of the leaves can be smooth (called glabrous) or covered with many tiny glandular hairs.

The flowers grow in groups of two to five where the leaves meet the stem. They sit on hairy stalks, usually 10-21 millimeters (about 0.4 to 0.8 inches) long. Each flower has five overlapping, sticky leaf-like parts called sepals. These sepals are different sizes, but mostly 10-21 millimeters long. They are green to reddish-brown and covered with glandular hairs.

The petals are 18-28 millimeters (about 0.7 to 1.1 inches) long. They are joined together at the bottom to form a tube. This petal tube is usually a pale or very pale lilac color. Sometimes, it has darker lilac shades with clear red or purplish stripes inside. The outside of the tube is covered with glandular hairs, but the petal tips are smooth inside. The inside of the tube is full of soft, woolly hairs. The four stamens (the parts that make pollen) are completely hidden inside the tube.

This plant flowers from May to October. After flowering, it produces fruits that are narrow and oval-shaped. They are partly hairy and can be yellow-brown to silvery in color.

How it Got its Name

The plant Eremophila elderi was first officially described in 1874 by a scientist named Ferdinand von Mueller. He wrote about it in his book Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae.

The second part of its name, elderi, is a way to honor Thomas Elder. He was a businessman who helped pay for an exploration trip led by Ernest Giles. During this trip, the first sample of this plant (called the type specimen) was collected.

Where it Lives

Aromatic emubush grows in the Rawlinson Range in Western Australia. It is also common in the southwest of the Northern Territory and the northwest of South Australia. You can often find it growing on rocky slopes and in dry creek beds.

Is it Protected?

The Western Australian Government's Department of Parks and Wildlife says that Eremophila elderi is "not threatened." This means it is not currently in danger of disappearing.

How People Use It

Traditional Uses

The Alyawarre people, who are Indigenous Australians, traditionally used the leaves of this emu bush. They used them for medicine and also for making bedding.

Growing in Gardens

This Eremophila plant is great for growing in pots or as a special plant in warm, inland areas. It is usually grown by grafting it onto another plant's rootstock, often a Myoporum plant. It grows best in soil that drains well and in a sunny spot. This plant does not like humidity or frost. It only needs water sometimes during the summer.