as roadworks. Some species such as E. sturtii reproduce by suckering and have become troublesome weeds in some areas. However, many more are rare or threatened by human activities such as land clearing, pastoral activity and mining. Taxonomy and naming The genus Eremophila was first formally described in 1810 by the botanist Robert Brown in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae and the first species to be named were E. oppositifolia and E. alternifolia but Brown did not nominate a type species. The Victorian government botanist, Ferdinand von Mueller was the most influential early naturalist to take an interest in the genus and described 47 species, many of which were collected during expeditions to remote areas of Australia. Robert Chinnock is the modern authority who has named more than 100 species of eremophilas but because many species grow in rarely visited places, more remain to be named. So far, 221 species have been described but another 40 have been discovered but not yet described. The most recent additions to the list are Eremophila buirchellii and Eremophila calcicola which were formally described in 2016. The name Eremophila is derived from the Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos) meaning "lonely" or "desert" and φίλος (phílos) meaning “dear" or "beloved” alluding to the species' adaptation to arid environments. Species list See List of Eremophila species Common names A significant number of eremophilas have the term emu bush or poverty bush as part of their common names, although sometimes two species have the same common name and sometimes one species has more than one common name. Of the approximately 220 species, the following have at least one common name: Emu bush E. alternifolia – narrow-leaved emu bush E. bignoniiflora – gooramurra, bignonia emu bush E. compacta – compact emu bush E. divaricata – spreading emu bush E. elderi – aromatic emu bush E. gilesii – Charleville turkey bush, green turkey bush, Giles emu bush E. glabra – common emu bush E. glutinosa – sticky emu bush E. hillii – Hill's emu bush E. lactea – milky emu bush E. maculata – spotted emu bush E. polyclada – twiggy emu-bush E. scaberula – rough emu bush E. scoparia – silver emu bush, broom bush Poverty bush E. abietina – spotted poverty bush E. anomala – Paroo poverty bush E. attenuata – Connie Sue poverty bush E. aureivisca – Rason poverty bush E. battii – Batt's poverty bush E. bowmanii