Scaevola taccada var. taccada
Beach Naupaka
Hawaiian Half-flower
Synonym(s): Scaevola sericea var. taccada
Not native to Florida
This plant is an invasive exotic that is altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives.
This species should never be planted (many with this designation are prohibited by law), and generally should be removed whenever possible.
A rare succulent shrub of coastal strands in Sarasota, Lee, Broward and the Monroe County keys. Native to the southern regions of the eastern hemisphere.
This non-native has escaped from cultivation and is a problem invasive. It can be differentiated from the native species which has similar flowers by the caylx lobes being longer than 1mm (~1/32 in.) and all flowers and fruit being on pedicels. In Scaevola plumieri has very short calyx lobes 1mm or less and the center flower is sessile.
There are two varieties of the non-native half-flower, var. taccada has glabrous (smooth) or glabrate (nearly smooth) stems and leaves. The other variety, sericea has silky plant hairs (is sericeous) on the stem and leaves. These two varieties used to be considered separate species but are now widely considered the same species, although sources disagree on which species name should apply.
Scaevola taccada is a member of the Goodeniaceae - Goodenia family.
Other species of the Scaevola genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Scaevola plumieri - INKBERRY
Scaevola taccada var. sericea - BEACH NAUPAKA
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Jan 21, 2020