Scaevola sericea Vahl

vernacular beach naupaka — species · Goodeniaceae

USDA: SCSE6
GBIF: 6358362 syn.
Rank: species

beach naupaka (Scaevola sericea) — Platephotograph · no rights reservedCC0 · public domain source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Goodeniaceae R. Br.
Genus: Scaevola

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native
PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Native

§2b

County-level range

· 9 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 9 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Medium
Salinity: High
Anaerobic: Medium
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: Medium

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 31 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 20–150 in/yr
pH range: 5.5–8
Root depth: 20 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 10 ft
Height @ 20 y: 10 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Dense
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: White
Fire resistant: Yes
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Indeterminate
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Year Round
Seed ends: Year Round
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 6,540
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 9 counties across 1 state.

Florida view state ↗ 9 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SCSE6 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/6358362 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z