"Ridgetop naupaka "

Description

Scaevola gaudichaudii, the ridgetop naupaka, is a shrub in the family Goodeniaceae. The flowers are yellow. The plant is endemic to Hawaii. It was first described by William J. Hooker and George Arnott Walker-Arnott in 1832 in the Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage... and was given the specific epithet, gaudichaudii, to honour Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré. It grows to a height of 6 feet (1.8 m), spreading to a diameter of 8 feet (2.4 m) and has a life span of about five years. This Scaevola likes full sun and harsh, dry, and windy locations. It flowers all year round with flowers which are weakly fragrant, and vary in colour from dark yellow, brownish-yellow to pinkish. The drupes are small and purple. The leaves are from 1 inch (2.5 cm) to 2 inches (5.1 cm) long and are slightly toothed.