Emu Bush
Eremophila "valentine"
Myoporaceae

Xeriscape Garden
Emu Bush; "Valentine"
Emu Bush "Valentine" flower
Form: shrub
Seasonality: evergreen
Size: 5 feet tall; 5 - 10 feet wide
Flowers:rose/red; tubular, 1 inch long in spring into summer. Humming birds and bees visit and polinate the flower
Fruit: a berry
Stems: multi branched; leaves; 1 inch, have purplish cast
Range/Origin: Australia
Hardiness: Sunset zones 8 - 9; 13 - 24

LANDSCAPE VALUE:

CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS:

NOTES: Eremophila means desert loving
The name Emu Bush comes from the flightless bird that feeds on the fruit

The Eremophilas are a very beautiful and interesting group of shrubs and small trees in the family Myoporaceae. In there native habitat they are confined to the arid and semiarid parts of Australia. Some species are variously called Fuchsia Bush, Wild Fuchsia, Turkey Bush and so on.

The Eremophilas include a very wide range of flower color, varying from colorless to white to green, yellows, purples, reds, blues and everything between. Vegetatively the plants vary from some that creep or run along the ground, small and large shrubs, to a few that form small trees. Eremophila oppositifolia, for instance, may reach 6 or 7 metres in height.

With this wide color range and vegetative variation, the horticultural potential of Eremophilas is tremendous, particularly for inland gardens where suitable ornamentals are scarce. They are adapted to heat and drought and difficult soils and little water, they are unsuitable for irrigation. , Once established they should survive droughts with few or no applications of water.

Soil drainage is a serious problem - too many people think drainage is the slope of the land. It is not. Slope has nothing to do with soil drainage. Water that soaks into the ground moves downwards until it meets an impervious layer and then has to drain away sideways. In a shallow soil such water quickly banks up and saturates to the surface. In a normal wet season shallow soils may seep water for days or weeks. Depth of top soil is the governing factor in soil drainage - water can keep moving downwards out of reach of roots where there is a deep friable topsoil.

On the subject of propagation we would have to consider seeds, cuttings and grafting. Seed of eremophilas are notoriously difficult to germinate, apparently having several inbuilt dormancy mechanisms. One story is that the seed must pass through an emu or turkey before it will germinate. I think it is much more difficult than that. The fruit has a thin fleshy outer covering, hard inner stone and probably chemical inhibitors that need to weather or leach away, as well as temperature requirements.

Some research on germinating of E. gilesii indicated that seed, which had weathered in the soil and baked in the sun for 2 or 3 or more years germinated on winter rainfall - not summer rain. There is room for someone to try soaking and refrigeration or refrigeration and soaking prior to planting to see if it brings about germination.

Cuttings are not difficult if the material is satisfactory. The difficulty is more in needing to use dry material for propagation. It is much easier to take cuttings off garden grown plants. The sticky leafed species seem harder to root from cuttings.

Grafting shows much promise. Grafted plants seem to grow well.

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This page compiled for the Moody Demonstration Garden by D. Post 1 Jan 2005
References: Sunset Western Garden Book; Sunset Books Inc.; Menlo Park, CA 94025, 6th ed.
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