Eremophila virens is an erect, shrubby species from Western Australia, growing 2 to 5 m tall with large, shiny, sticky leaves and green to yellowish-green flowers that attract nectar-feeding birds. It is grown for its drought tolerance and early flowering, and needs full sun or part shade with sharply drained soil.
Family
Scrophulariaceae (Scrophulari family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Needs only occasional watering during long dry spells once established.
Soil
Wide range of soils, including sandy, free-draining ground.
Temperature
Suited to warm, dry conditions; can be damaged by heavy frosts.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Western Australia (Coolgardie)
Climate
desert or dry shrubland
About
Eremophila virens, commonly known as green-flowered eremophila or Campion eremophila, is a flowering plant in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with large, shiny leaves and hairy, yellowish-green flowers.
How to grow it
This is one of the earliest flowering eremophilas, often having blossoms as early as July. Although the flowers are mostly green, they are attractive to nectar-feeding birds. The plant can be propagated from cuttings but these are slow to strike and grafting onto Myoporum rootstock is usually more reliable. It will grow in a wide range of soils in either full sun or part shade, only needs an occasional watering during a long dry spell but can be damaged by heavy frosts. Tip pruning to remove frost-damaged leaves helps to keep the plant compact and sometimes encourages the development of additional flowers.
Where it grows
Green-flowered eremophila grows in sandy soil on quartzite hills and near granite outcrops in the Mukinbudin - Warralakin area in the Avon Wheatbelt and Coolgardie biogeographic regions.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eremophila virens 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.