Tough, unfussy and beautiful: A look at Australian eremophilas
There is a category of garden plant in the Australian native flora that delivers with abundance and asks for almost nothing: eremophilas. Full sun, lean soil, minimal water, little fertiliser, no fuss — and in return, striking wildlife-attracting flowers.
Eremophila maculata × E. purpurascens — a naturally occurring hybrid, identifiable by the purple spotting surrounded by cream. Hybrids like this are common across the genus and widely available under a range of names.
Eremophilas have a visual range that runs from prostrate silver groundcovers to small trees. There are over 220 species that have evolved across Australian climates from Mediterranean WA to the arid interior.
Eremophila glabra spp. — the most form-variable species in the genus, ranging from prostrate groundcover to upright shrub.
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a bit about eremophilas
The name. Eremophila comes from the Greek: eremos (desert or lonely place) and philos (loving). While the majority of the species are arid and semi-arid specialists, several grow in Mediterranean-climate WA and a few in subtropical margins.
Naming and hybrids. Eremophilas hybridise readily (thought to be a survival strategy in unpredictable desert conditions) and most plants sold in nurseries are hybrids. Common names can vary by nursery, by state and from one year to the next.
Sourcing. Availability varies by species and some of the examples below will be easier to find than others.
A native blue-banded bee (Amegilla cingulata) visiting an eremophila in bloom.
Arid adaptation. The leaf structures of eremophilas are a study in water conservation. Waxy or resinous coatings reduce moisture loss and fine hairs create a boundary layer of still air that slows evaporation. Small or needle-like leaves reduce total surface area.
What they ask for. Free-draining soil is the single most important requirement across the entire genus. Beyond drainage, full sun and lean soil are strongly preferred. A low-phosphorus native fertiliser applied sparingly in autumn is all the supplementation most species ever need. Light annual pruning with sharp secateurs after flowering maintains shape.
1. Spotted emu bush (Eremophila maculata)
Often sold as a hybrid
Spotted emu bush is the most widely available, the most colour-variable and the most forgiving. The tubular flowers can be red, orange, yellow, pink or purple and the interior of the tube is distinctively spotted with a contrasting colour that gives the species its name. These spots are nectar guides, directing honeyeaters to the precise position in the tube where the anthers and stigma are located.
Pictured here is E. maculata × E. viscida, a hybrid commonly sold.
The bud of the E. maculata × E. purpurascens hybrid shown above — the flowers emerge through winter and spring.
2. Tar bush (Eremophila glabra)
Tar bush is the most variable eremophila. It can differentiate from a prostrate groundcover to an upright shrub. Despite the common name, E. glabra does not have notably resinous stems. Named cultivars including 'Kalbarri Carpet' (orange-red, spreading) and 'Mingenew Gold' (yellow, compact) are both widely used native groundcovers.
Melburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eremophila glabra 'Murchison's Magic' — a named cultivar showing the species' characteristic flower form.
Allthingsnative, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tar bush spreading form — one of the most drought-tolerant groundcovers available for dry and coastal Australian gardens.
3. Silky eremophila (Eremophila nivea)
Silky eremophila's stems, leaves and flower tubes are covered in dense soft white hairs that give the plant an intensely silver appearance. This coating reduces water loss and reflects solar radiation in the intense heat of its WA sandplain home.
Melburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Silky eremophila — dense white hairs cover the entire plant, producing an intensely silver foliage effect that holds through summer and winter.
Silky eremophila in flower — lavender-purple tubes against silver foliage.
Grafted eremophilas
When to choose grafted. If you garden in coastal NSW, southeastern QLD, coastal or inland VIC, or any position with clay-heavy soil or more than 700mm of annual rainfall, grafted forms are the recommended choice for almost every species on this list. In WA Mediterranean-climate gardens or in genuinely free-draining sandy soil in a dry climate, own-root plants are often fine.
Caring for grafted plants. Keep the graft union above soil and mulch levels at all times. Remove any shoots that emerge from the rootstock below the graft immediately using sharp secateurs or a hori hori — rootstock suckers will outcompete the grafted scion if left unchecked.
4. Weeooka (Eremophila oppositifolia)
Weeooka is immediately distinguishable from most other eremophilas by a single visible characteristic: its leaves are arranged in opposite pairs along the stems. This is the source of both the scientific name and the common name weeooka. The flowers range across cream, white, pink, red and the deep maroon of subsp. rubra.
Weeooka — opposite leaf arrangement is instantly distinguishable from most other eremophilas, with flowers from cream through to deep maroon.
5. Eurah (Eremophila bignoniiflora)
Usually sold as a hybrid
Eurah is the eremophila that grows in seasonally flooded country. Across the floodplains and watercourse margins of inland NSW, QLD and SA, it experiences periods of complete inundation followed by months of dry heat. It is available from specialist nurseries, though almost always as a hybrid rather than the straight species.
Ethel Aardvark, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eurah — the floodplain eremophila, tolerating seasonal inundation.
6. Pink eremophila (Eremophila laanii)
Through winter and spring, pink eremophila covers itself almost completely in deep pink to rose-pink tubular flowers. It holds over a long flowering season from mid-winter through late spring.
Melburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Pink eremophila — one of the most spectacular mass-flowering displays in the genus.
7. Desert fuchsia (Eremophila deserti)
Desert fuchsia earns its common name from the colour and form of its flowers. They are tubular bells with a slightly flared opening. It is compact at 0.3–1m with a naturally dense, rounded habit.
Russell Best, CC BY 3.0 AU, via Wikimedia Commons
Desert fuchsia — deep purple-red tubular bells on a compact, naturally dense shrub suited to the most arid garden conditions.
8. Slender fuchsia bush (Eremophila decipiens)
Slender fuchsia bush produces long, arching stems that drape over neighbouring plants. It grows naturally in southwestern WA, where it frequently scrambles through adjacent shrubs in a behaviour more typical of a climber than a shrub.
Melburnian, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Slender fuchsia bush — arching stems carrying deep red flowers, with a flowing habit quite different from the typical compact eremophila form.
9. Narrow-leaf emu bush (Eremophila alternifolia)
Narrow-leaf emu bush's leaves are needle-like, giving the plant a fine, almost heath-like texture. The pink to red tubular flowers contrast well with the fine foliage, giving this species textural variety.
Melburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Narrow-leaf emu bush — near-needle foliage as an adaptation to extreme aridity, with pink to red flowers through winter and spring.
10. Serrate-leaved eremophila (Eremophila serrulata)
The serrated leaf margins give this species its name and may help channel dew toward the root zone in dry conditions. The flowers are yellowish-brown to green — an unusual colour for an eremophila.
Murray Fagg, CC BY 3.0 AU, via Wikimedia Commons
Serrate-leaved eremophila — yellowish-brown to green flowers produced prolifically through winter and spring, one of the most reliable nectar sources in the dry inland.
11. MacDonnell's desert fuchsia (Eremophila macdonnellii)
This compact shrub, named after the MacDonnell Ranges of central Australia where it grows naturally, produces its blue-purple tubular flowers through winter and spring. Blue-purple is rare in eremophilas, which trend strongly toward red, orange, pink and mauve.
Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
MacDonnell's desert fuchsia — blue-purple flowers against silver-grey foliage, one of the most unusual colour combinations in the genus.
The case for eremophilas
The eleven plants on this list represent a fraction of what the genus offers. What makes them worth knowing is not just the visual range or the wildlife value, though both are exceptional. It is the relationship between what they ask for and what they give back.
Eremophila glabra 'Lime Gold' — one of several named cultivars that bring the genus's drought performance to mainstream garden conditions.
Free-draining soil, full sun, minimal water once the root system is established — these are the conditions where most gardening becomes difficult. Eremophilas respond to these conditions not by tolerating them but by flowering.
Jean and Fred Hort from Perth, Australia, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
White-cheeked honeyeater visiting an eremophila in flower.
The investment is in choosing the right species for your conditions and giving the plant one establishment summer with consistent deep moisture. For a plant that asks so little, the return is genuinely extraordinary.
Pinyuru (Eremophila cuneifolia) in its wild environment.
For more on Australian eremophilas, visit the Australian Native Plants Society.
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