Myoporum parvifolium

Creeping boobialla is a prostrate, spreading shrub sometimes forming a mat 3 metres (10 ft) in diameter. Its leaves are fleshy and glabrous, usually 18–40 millimetres (0.7–2 in) long, 3–6.5 millimetres (0.1–0.3 in) wide and egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base. They are arranged alternately, sometimes have a few serrations on the margins near the leaf tip and sometimes have raised, wart-like tubercles on their surface.[2][3][4][5]

White flowers with purple spots appear in the leaf axils singly or in clusters of 2 or 3 on a stalk 7.5–33 millimetres (0.3–1 in) long. The flowers have 5 lance-shaped sepals and 5 petals joined at their bases to form a tube. The tube is about 3 millimetres (0.1 in) long and the lobes are spreading, blunt and 3–4 millimetres (0.1–0.2 in) long. As a result, the diameter of the flower is about 7.5 millimetres (0.3 in). There are 4 stamens which extend beyond the petals. Peak flowering times are winter to summer in New South Wales and October to March in South Australia[3][4] and the fruit that follows are succulent, rounded, yellowish-white and up to 8.5 millimetres (0.3 in) in diameter.[2][3][4]

Myoporum parvifolium was first formally described by botanist Robert Brown in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae in 1810.[1][6] The specific epithet parvifolium is derived from the Latin parvus, "small" and folium, "leaf".[7]

Myoporum parvifolium occurs in the south-west corner of New South Wales,[3] and from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia eastwards[4] to Victoria. It is common along much of the Murray River in South Australia.[2] It often grows on limestone cliffs, along river flats and in woodland in sandy sometimes saline soils.[2][3]

Creeping boobialla is a useful ground cover and is often cultivated for that purpose. It prefers a well-drained, sunny position but is hardy in most situations. It is usually propagated from cuttings and has been used as a rootstock for more difficult related species such as Eremophila.[5][8]