Charleville turkeybush (Eremophila gilesii) is a low, spreading, resinous desert shrub native to much of inland Australia, valued for its purple-lilac flowers. It needs full sun, excellent drainage and little water, and suits xeriscape and dry-climate gardens.
Family
Scrophulariaceae (Scrophulari family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently once established; let the soil dry out fully between waterings.
Soil
Free-draining sandy or loamy soil; tolerates poor, stony ground.
Temperature
15–35 °C; tolerates heat and frost to about -5 °C once established.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Australia
Climate
desert or dry shrubland
About
Eremophila gilesii, commonly known Charleville turkey bush, green turkey bush, desert fuchsia and Giles emu bush is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, and is endemic to Australia. It is usually a low, spreading shrub with pinkish-lilac to purple flowers and is widespread in the Northern Territory and all mainland states except Victoria. It is considered a difficult agricultural weed in some parts of Queensland but is often used as a bush medicine by Aboriginal people.
Where it grows
In New South Wales, Eremophila gilesii subsp. gilesii occurs in the Wanaaring and Enngonia districts in the north west of the state. It is widespread in the western half of South Australia, the southern half of the Northern Territory and in a central band across Western Australia. It grows in sand or loam soils on plains and low hills. Subspecies variabilis only occurs in Western Australia in the Gascoyne, Gibson Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Little Sandy Desert and Murchison biogeographic regions where it grows in sand, clay or laterite on plains or in rocky areas.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eremophila gilesii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.