Named after Dr Thomas Embling (1814–1893), a Victorian medical practitioner and parliamentarian who was active in the introduction of new plants and animals.

Emblingia F.Muell.

Terrestrial, perennial, prostrate subshrub. Branches hispid. Leaves (sub-)opposite, simple, harsh, scabrous; margins ±entire or slightly bluntly toothed, wavy, cartilaginous; stipules minute. Flowers solitary in axils, zygomorphic, bisexual, pedicellate, ebracteolate, positioned with the calceolus (slipper-shaped corolla) facing downward, changing orientation during development so that it is presented to the pollinator as being inverted. Sepals 5, connate for about half of their length except on adaxial side where the calyx tube is split to the base. Petals 2, basally valvate, apically imbricate, forming the calceolus, at the base developing a spur-like pocket enclosing a swollen triangular nectary gland. Androgynophore present, linear, flattened, adaxially curved, arising opposite the slit in the calyx, and overtopped by calceolus. Androecium appearing as 4 fertile anthers on a short filament on the adaxial side of flower, and (3–) 6 staminodes on the abaxial side, the staminodes lacking anthers, connected at the base to form a hood-like structure at the summit of the androgynophore. Anthers 2-locular, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Gynoecium of 3 connate carpels. Ovary superior, loculi 3; style absent; stigma small, sessile, shortly lobed. Ovule 1 per locule; placentation axile. Fruit dry, indehiscent, 1-seeded, pericarp adherent to seed. Seed reniform, more or less compressed, with thick, rugose testa and laciniate funicle; embryo conduplicate-involute; endosperm scanty.

Emblingiaceae are prostrate subshrubs with axillary, ebracteolate and strongly zygomorphic flowers. The corolla is a hood-shaped structure (calceolus) formed from 2 petals. The calceolus faces downward, changing orientation during development so that it is presented to the pollinator as being inverted. Androgynophore present. Nectary gland present, enclosed by a small pocket formed by the calceolus at the base. Androecium appearing as 4 fertile anthers and (3–) 6 staminodes.

Native.

A family consisting solely of Emblingia calceoliflora. Endemic to Western Australia, occurring in the Avon Wheatbelt, Carnarvon, Geraldton Sandplains, Yalgoo IBRA regions (FloraBase).

Emblingia has had a rather unstable taxonomic history, and the correct familial placement has been problematic. Mueller (1860) originally assigned Emblingia to the Capparideae, and this was followed by Bentham (1863). A number of subsequent authors have placed Emblignia into Capparaceae (e.g. Morley & Toelken 1983), but the genus has also at various times been placed in or allied with Goodeniaceae (Erdtman et al. 1969), Polygalaceae (Cronquist 1981), Sapindaceae (Thorne 1992), and Gentianales (Savolainen et al. 2000), representing a number of orders. It has also been assigned to its own family, the Emblingiaceae (Airy Shaw 1965, Dahlgren 1980, Takhtajan 1980). Recent molecular analyses suggest that Emblingia is probably best placed in its own family within the Brassicales (Chandler & Bayer 2000, Hall et al. 2004).

Prior to a study by Tobe (2015) there was considerable disagreement regarding the interpretation of floral structure of Emblingia calceoliflora. Uncertainty of the correct floral structure resulted in confusion in family descriptions. There was no agreement regarding whether the flowers are resupinate or not, how the petals are positioned within the flower, whether the hood is petal-like or not, how many stamens were originally present in a flower and how many carpels constitute the gynoecium (Stevens 2001 onwards, Tobe 2015).  

Bentham, G. (1863). Capparideae, pp. 91–92, in Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory Volume I. Ranunculaceae to Anacardiaceae. (Lovell Reeve: London).

Chandler, G.T. & Bayer, R.J. (2000). Phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic Western Australian genus Emblingia based on rbcL sequences. Plant Species Biology 15: 57–72.

Cronquist, A.J. (1981). An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants. (Columbia University Press: New York).

Dahlgren, R.M.T. (1980). A revised system of classification of the angiosperms. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 80(2): 91–124.

Erdtman, G., Leins, P., Melville, R. & Metcalfe, C.R. (1969). On the relationships of Emblingia. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 62(2): 169–186.

FloraBase: the Western Australian Flora, https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/photo/2989, [Accessed 3 July 2018}

Hall, J.C., Iltis, H.H. & Sytsma, K.J. (2004). Molecular phylogenetics of core Brassicales, placement of orphan genera Emblingia, Forchhammeria, Tirania, and character evolution. Systematic Botany 29(3): 654–669.

Erdtman, G., Leins, P., Melville, R. & Metcalfe, C.R. (1969). On the relationships of Emblingia. Journal of the Linnean Society 67(2): 169–186.

Keighery, G. (1981). The breeding system of Emblingia. Plant Systematics and Evolution 137(1–2): 63–65.

Kubitzki, K. (2003). Emblingiaceae, in Kubitzki, K. (ed.), The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants Volume 5. (Springer: Berlin, Germany).

Morley, B.D. & Toelken, H.R (1983). Flowering Plants in Australia. (Rigby Publishers: Adelaide, Australia).

Mueller, Ferdinand von (1861). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae 2 (11): 2.

Savolainen, V., Fay, M.F., Albach, D.C., Backlund, A., van der Bank, M., Cameron, K.M., Johnson, S.A., Lledó, M.D., Pintaud, J.-C., Powell, M., Sheahan, M.C., Soltis, D.E., Soltis, P.S., Weston, P., Whitten, W.M., Wurdack, K.J. & Chase, M.W. (2000). Phylogeny of the eudicots: A nearly complete familial analysis based on rbcL gene sequences. Kew Bulletin 55: 257–309.

Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 14, July 2017, <http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/> [Accessed 4 July 2018]

Takhtajan, A.L. (1980). Outline of the classification of flowering plants Magnoliophyta. Botanical Review 46: 225–359.

Thorne, R.T. (1992). Classification and geography of the flowering plants. Botanical Review 58: 225–348.

Tobe, H. (2015). Floral morphology and structure of Emblingia calceoliflora (Emblingiaceae, Brassicales): questions and answers. Journal of Plant Research 128(3): 481–495.

Published 9 November 2018.