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Electronic Flora of South Australia species Fact Sheet

Family: Orobanchaceae
Euphrasia collina

Citation: R. Br., Prod. Fl. Nov. Holl. 436 (1810).

Synonymy: E. speciosa R. Br., Prod. Fl. Nov. Holl. 437 (1810); E. brownii F. Muell., Fragm. Phyt. Aust. 5:88 (1865), nom. illegit.

Common name: Purple eyebright.

Description:
Perennial herb or undershrub to 80 cm tall, with main inflorescence-bearing branches erect or ascending, themselves branched above ground-level at scattered nodes in no fixed order or (outside S. Aust.) decumbent and simple above ground-level; leaves, bracts and calyces with or without glandular or eglandular hairs; upper leaves and lowest bracts on main branches 4.5-23 mm long, pinnatifid to serrate-crenate.

Calyx 3.5-10 mm long; corolla 8.5-17.5 mm long along the upper side, white to pink, purple or lavender, sometimes with a yellow blotch behind the lowest lobe, the upper lobes in the same plane, facing forward; anther cells eglandular-hairy along the slits and about the connective.

Capsules 5.2-12 mm long, glabrous or setose at the apex with the hairs extending to a varying extent towards the base.

Distribution:  A polymorphic species with 14 geographically or ecologically defined subspecies; 6 are recorded for S. Aust., although 2 of these are probably now extinct.

Conservation status: native

Flowering time: No flowering time is available


SA Distribution Map based
on current data relating to
specimens held in the
State Herbarium of South Australia

Biology: No text

Key to Infraspecific taxa:
1. External surface of calyx glabrous
 
2. Lower corolla lobes externally glabrous, usually emarginate; upper leaves on main branches with 0-4 usually 1 or 2 pairs of teeth
subsp. tetragona 1e.
2. Lower corolla lobes externally pilose, at least at the base (best seen in mature buds)
 
3. Upper leaves on main branches 1.5-4.4 mm broad, with 0-2, usually 1, pairs of teeth; rear pair of anther awns 0.2-0.6 usually 0.3-0.5 mm long
subsp. collina 1a.
3. Upper leaves on main branches 3.4-8 rarely 2.4 mm broad, with 1-3 or more pairs of teeth; rear pair of anther awns 0.15-0.4 usually 0.2-0.3 mm long
subsp. paludosa 1d.
1. External surface of calyx pubescent
 
4. Bracts and external surface of calyx covered by short eglandular hairs
subsp. muelleri 1b.
4. Bracts and external surface of calyx covered by short to long glandular hairs, sometimes mixed with eglandular hairs
 
5. Upper leaves on main branches with 1-8 usually 3-6 pairs of teeth; capsules setose in the distal half to one-third, rarely less
subsp. osbornii 1c.
5. Upper leaves on main branches with 0-2 usually 1 pairs of teeth; capsules glabrous or setose only at the apex
subsp. trichocalycina 1f.

Author: Not yet available


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