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Scaevola plumieri (L.)Vahl
Inkberry
Gullfeed
Beachberry
Florida native
Threatened Florida species
A frequent plant of the coastal strands of the lower half of the Florida peninsula. Found along the coasts of Louisiana & Texas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The native range includes South America, Africa, and in Asia, India and Sri Lanka.
Inkberry has a unique fan-shaped flower with 5-6 white to pinkish-white lobes all on one side. Two distinctive features of inkberry are the center flower is sessile (side flowers have pediciels) and the calyx lobes are no more than 1mm (~1/32 in.) long. The fruit is a shiny, black, juicy drupe 1-2.5 cm (up to 1 in.) long. The thick, fleshy, simple, shiny-green leaves are alternate, clustered near the end of the branches, and 2.5 - 7 cm (1 to 2-3/4 in.) long.
Listed as a threatened species in Florida due to the loss of coastal stand habitat to development. It should not be confused with the similar S. taccada, which is becoming a troublesome exotic. The non-native species has white to yellowish white fruit and leaves generally longer than 7.5 cm (~3 in.). All flowers (including the center flower) are pedicellate and the caylx lobes are longer than 1mm.
Scaevola plumieri is a member of the Goodeniaceae - Goodenia family.
Other species of the Scaevola genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Scaevola taccada var. taccada - BEACH NAUPAKA
Scaevola taccada var. sericea - BEACH NAUPAKA
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 08, 2025
