Eremophila debilis

Eremophila debilis, Winter Apple, is a ground cover, almost herbaceous, with a spread of about 1 to 2 metres, growing very low to the ground, often never more than 0.05 metres high.

It has a large natural geographic range in NSW, growing on the central and north coast areas, as well as all tablelands and western slopes botanical subdivisions, west to the east of the western plains (as far west as Deniliquin and Hay). On the coast, it is not found further south than Sydney. It extends northwards into Queensland, through the coast and tablelands and central parts up to Cairns. It is only just found in Victoria, near Boosey and it is listed as critically endangered there. There are records in the north of New Zealand which appear to be introductions.

It is often found in dry sclerophyll woodland, often where soils are a bit moister with a high clay content. It prefers to grow around logs and in heavy leaf litter at the bases of eucalypt-trees.

Eremophila spp. mostly have simple and alternate leaves (sometimes opposite or whorled). In this species, leaves are alternate, lanceolate to elliptic, to about 12 cm long by 2 cm wide, deep green in colour with margins entire or having teeth; with a semi-succulent feel.

Eremophila spp. have 5-merous flowers with the 5 petals usually fused into a tube (tubulate to campanulate) with 5 petal-lobes (often described as 2-lipped with 3 upper lobes and 2 lower), occurring in small-numbered clusters per leaf axil. Flowers are often curved. In this species, five-petalled flowers are white, tinged with lilac, produced singularly or in up to groups of 3 in leaf axils, to about 10 mm long, and appear in spring and summer.

The fruit is a fleshy capsule, to 10 mm diameter that turn purple when ripe and have the appearance of miniature apples, hence the common name.