Turnera oculata is a species of evergreen, woody shrub, bearing striking yellow flowers with a dark centre, and occurring in the Kaokoveld in the Namib Desert in northern Namibia and in southern Angola.

In cultivation at the Botanical Society conservatory the invasive Argentinean ants rapidly discovered and regularly feed from the glands.

Flowers develop in summer, and open during the daylight hours, attracting various insects including butterflies such as Acraea brainei.

Turnera oculata was discovered by Robert Story (1913-1999) in 1956, some 20 km south of the Kunene River, and described by him in the botanical magazine ‘Bothalia' in 1961.

[1] Story was also noted for his paper "Some Plants Used by the Bushmen in Obtaining Food and Water" published in 1958 as 'Botanical Survey of South Africa Memoir No.