Abstract
Properties of the quasi-geostrophic Eliassen-Palm (EP) flux for planetary scale motions are discussed, in order to clarify how these properties generalize from their beta-plane counterparts when no restriction on the variation of the Coriolis parameter is imposed. These properties include the relationships between the divergence of the EP flux and the meridional flux of potential vorticity, and between the EP flux, group velocity and refractive index.