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About 130, see text |
Scaevola is a plant genus in the family Goodeniaceae. It contains approximately 130 species, commonly called scaevolas, fan-flowers, half-flowers, or (after these plants' Hawaiian name) naupakas. Their scientific name is Latin for "left-handed" and like some of the common names refers to the peculiar flower shape which looks as if it has been horizontally cut in half.
Scaevolas are the only Goodeniaceae genus that is widespread outside of Australia. In at least six separate dispersals, about 40 species have spread throughout the Pacific Basin, with a few reaching the tropical coasts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Beach Naupaka (S. taccada) occurs throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and Beachberry (S. plumieri) is widespread in the tropical Americas and Africa.
Most Australian scaevolas have dry fruits and sprawling, herbaceous to shrubby habits. By contrast, nearly all species outside Australia have fleshy fruits (making for easy dispersal by frugivores) and are often tall shrubs or trees.
The plant pathogenic sac fungus Mycosphaerella scaevolae was discovered on a fan-flower.
Seleted species
- Scaevola aemula
- Scaevola amblyanthera F.Muell.
- Scaevola brookeana F.Muell.
- Scaevola chamissoniana
- Scaevola chanii
- Scaevola collaris F.Muell.
- Scaevola coriacea – Dwarf Naupaka
- A low, flat-lying perennial herb historically found on six Hawaiian Islands but now only on Maui and two offshore islets. It is an endangered species with less than 300 plants in existence. Its older stems are somewhat woody, and the succulent leaves are oval-shaped, relatively far apart, and smooth or somewhat scaly with rounded tips. Flowers occur in branched clusters from the point of leaf attachment in groups of one to three.
- Scaevola crassifolia – Thick-leaved Fan-flower
- Scaevola enantophylla F.Muell.
- Scaevola floribunda
- Scaevola gaudichaudiana Cham. – Mountain Naupaka
- Scaevola gaudichaudii Hook. & Arn. – Ridgetop Naupaka
- Scaevola kilaueae – ʻohe naupaka (Hawaiian)
- Scaevola muluensis
- Scaevola macrophylla
- Scaevola oldfieldii F.Muell.
- Scaevola oxyclona F.Muell.
- Scaevola parvifolia F.Muell. ex Benth.
- Scaevola phlebopetala F.Muell.
- Scaevola plumieri – Beachberry, Waxy Bush, "inkberry"; huahekili uka (Hawaiian)
- Scaevola porocarya F.Muell.
- Scaevola procera
- Scaevola ramosissima
- Scaevola sericea
- Scaevola socotraensis
- Scaevola taccada – Beach Naupaka; naupaka kahakai (Hawaiian); ngahu (Tongan)
- Scaevola verticillata
References
- Howarth, Dianella G.; Gustafsson, Mats H.G.; Baum, David A. & Motley, Timothy J. (2003): Phylogenetics of the genus Scaevola (Goodeniaceae): implication for dispersal patterns across the Pacific Basin and colonization of the Hawaiian Islands. Am. J. Bot. 90(6): 915-213. PDF fulltext Supplemental data
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