Scaevola taccada var. taccada
Goodeniaceae or Goodenia or Fanflower family
Synonyms: Scaevola fauriei, Scaevola frutescens, Scaevola frutescens f. moomomiana, Scaevola plumerioides, Scaevola sericea, Scaevola sericea var. fauriei, Scaevola sericea f. moomomiana, Scaevola sericea f. saintjohnii, Scaevola taccada, Scaevola taccada var. bryanii, Scaevola taccada var. sericea
Naupaka kahakai
Aupaka, Huahekili, Naupaka, Naupaka kai
Beach naupaka
Natural Range & Environment
Scaevola Ku/ Mi/ PH/ Li/ La/ FF/ HI
Occurring throughout tropical and subtropical Pacific and Indian Ocean coasts.In the Hawaiian Islands, indigenous to Kure, Midway, Pearl and Hermes, Lisianski, Laysan, French Frigate Shoals, Ni`ihau, Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Kaho`olawe, Hawai`i.
Naupaka kahakai is an indigenous shrub found throughout tropical and subtropical Pacific and Indian Ocean coasts. It is a common coastal shrub throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago, except on the higher rocky islands of Gardner Pinnacles (Pūhāhonu), Necker (Mokumanamana), and Nīhoa (Moku Manu).
Naupaka kahakai flowers can vary in petal size and color; here and in the header are just two examples. Naupaka kahakai is the only native Hawaiian Scaevola species with white fruits. Two examples of naupaka kahakai in its natural coastal habitat: In the sandy dunes at Ka‘ena Point, O‘ahu, coexisting with the endangered ‘ohai (Sesbania tomentosa), and emerging from lava rock at Punalu‘u Black Sand Beach Park, Hawai‘i Island (Hawai‘i Island photograph courtesy of Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.). Note how both wild plants maintain a low stature in these windy coastal locations. Two examples of cultivated naupaka kahakai: a manicured hedge along Waikiki Beach (Photograph courtesy of Kathy Keeler ©.), and a prostrate varigated form recently developed by Dr. Orville Baldos and his team at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (Photograph courtesy of Orville C. Baldos ©.).
Description
Shrub, Dwarf, Less than 2
Shrub, Small, 2 to 6
Shrub, Medium, 6 to 10
Naupaka kahakai grows to widths of 15 feet or more.
Long lived (Greater than 5 years)
Naupaka kahakai leaves are about 2 to 9 inches long and are oval-shaped with silky white hairs on the axil (between the leaf stem and a petiole or branch). The leaves are somewhat to moderately succulent.
Leaf Colors
Light Green
Medium Green
Flower Colors
Cream
Greenish-White
Purple
White
Yellow
Naupaka kahakai in the Hawaiian Archipelago generally have pale yellowish-green to white cream-colored flowers with or without purple streaks. When combined with the white fruits, it makes for a nice display.
Blooming Period
Year Round
Pulpy marble-sized round white fruits follow flowers. This is the only white-fruited naupaka (Scaevola spp.) native to the Hawaiian Islands.
Growth Requirements
General
Naupaka kahakai is one of the most, if not the most, widely used of all native plants for commercial and residential landscapes in Hawaiʻi. They can be planted in practically every form of landscape, from beach parks, along roads and highways, commercial lots, and anywhere else requiring low maintenance and xeric needs. Plants can be used as an informal hedge, a tall filler to occupy "dead" space, as border planting, or as a windbreak against prevailing sea breeze. [11]
The "papa" or prostrate forms are used as a groundcover.
People often plant coastal naupaka kahakai on the makai side of the house and naupaka kuahiwi on the mauka side. [Rick Barboza, Hui Kū Maoli Ola]
Dry
Once established watering should be minimal. [11]
Soil must be well drained
Full sun
Naupaka kahakai is known to tolerate some shade, but produces lankier growth in that environment. Does best in full sun.
Tolerances
Drought
Wind
Salt Spray
Heat
Soils
Clay
Sand
Cinder
Organic
Coral
Naupaka kahakai does not require much extra fertilizer, but will perform better with some periodic applications and foliar feeding throughout the year.
Plants prune well, growing back thickly at cut branches and twigs. Best to hand prune. Hedgers, manual or power, slice leaves and stems giving them a "ragged" look and opening them up to a host of problems. Too, the overall appearance of naupaka kahakai looks much better when hand pruned.
Pests and Diseases
These shrubs are prone to ants, as well as scale, spider mites and other sucking insects.
Refer to the Pests & Diseases page for ways to deal with each of these pests.
Uses
Ancient Hawaiian
The pithy fruits were eaten as refreshment on journeys or more or less in times of famine. [2,3]
One older source (Charles Gaudichaud,1819) states that Hawaiians "used all fragrant plants, all flowers and even colored fruits" for lei making. The red or yellow were indicative of divine and chiefly rank; the purple flowers and fruit, or with fragrance, were associated with divinity. Because of their long-standing place in oral tradition, the flowers of naupaka kahakai were likely used for lei making by early Hawaiians, even though there are no written sources. [4]
Medicinal:
Mixed with salt, the fruit or root bark of naupaka kahakai was used for cuts, skin diseases [3,5,6] and wounds. [6]
Modern
Fabric dyes appearing from greenish-yellow to dark green have been made from with different mordants--a metalic substance for setting colors to the fabric. [1]
Both flowers and fruits are used today in lei. [4]
Local divers know to use the flowers, fruit or leaves to rub inside their diving mask instead of their saliva (hāʻae, spit) to prevent fogging.
Use Outside of the Hawaiian Islands:
Used medically elsewhere. The leaves can be cooked as greens. The wood is fashioned as pegs for boat building. [9]
In Malaysia, the pith is used for making "rice paper." [9]
Check out the great short Instagram video by nattybynature808 on some modern uses of naupaka kahakai.
Special Features and Information
General
Goodeniaceae is a family primarily found in Australia in arid and semi-arid sites, except for the genus Scaevola, which is pantropical. It contains about 400 species within 12 genera [WikipediA;Goodeniaceae].
Scaevola is the only genus in the Fanflower family (Goodeniaceae) native to the Hawaiian Islands. There are nine extant and one likely extinct species of naupaka (Scaevola spp.) native to Hawai‘i, with all but one (Scaevola taccada) being endemic [Flora of the Hawaiian Islands]. Scaevola taccada is also the only Hawaiian naupaka without a black fruit.
The pulpy fruits tolerate salt water and float on the ocean currents for dispersal to other islands, unlike the dark purple fruits of the other native naupaka species which are eaten and dispersed by birds. However, the seeds of naupaka kahakai will only germinate with fresh water. [9]
Hawaiian Origin Stories for the Naupaka Flower
(from In Gardens of Hawai‘i by Marie C. Neal [1965])
The story of the naupaka flower, though of recent origin, is one of the best known of Hawaii. It has several variants. Two lovers quarreled and the maiden tore a naupaka flower in two and declared she would not love her old sweetheart again until he should bring to her a perfect flower. He searched in vain all over the islands, for these flowers, whether they grew on the seashore, on the plains, or in the mountains, had become but half flowers. And it is said that he died of a broken heart.
Another story tells of a beautiful stranger who fell in love with a village youth. When he turned from her and went back to his sweetheart, the beautiful woman followed him and tore him from her embrace. Anger blazed about the woman, and they knew that she was Pele, goddess of volcanoes. She pursued the youth into the mountains, hurling lava after him. Then the gods took pity on him and transformed him into a half flower, the naupaka. Pele shrieked with rage and fled on a river of lava to the ocean. She overtook the maid, whom the gods turned into a beach naupaka. The lovers are forever separated, for the half flowers of the youth still bloom alone in the mountains, and the half flowers of the maiden blossom alone on the beach.
Supposedly, to add a happy ending to the sad story above, you must hike up into the mountains, pick a flower from a naupaka kuahiwi, and quickly hike back down to the ocean. There, you should pick a flower from a naupaka kahakai and press the two flowers together, thus rejoining the village youth and his sweetheart.
The Legend:
In ancient times, one version goes, there was a beautiful Hawaiian princess known as Naupaka. One day, the villagers noticed that Naupaka looked very sad. They told her parents, who approached Naupaka and asked her what was troubling her.
“I have fallen in love with a man named Kaui,” replied the princess. “But Kaui is not of noble birth—he is a commoner.” According to Hawaiian tradition, it was strictly forbidden for members of royalty to marry people from the common ranks.
Distressed, Naupaka and Kaui traveled long and far, seeking a solution to their dilemma. They climbed up a mountain to see a kahuna who was staying at a heiau (temple). Alas, he had no clear answer for the young lovers. “There is nothing I can do,” he told them, “but you should pray. Pray at this heiau.”
So they did. And as they prayed, rain began to fall. Their hearts torn by sorrow, Naupaka and Kaui embraced for a final time. Then Naupaka took a flower from her ear and tore it in half, giving one half to Kaui. “The gods won’t allow us to be together,” she said. “You go live down by the water, while I will stay up here in the mountains.”
As the two lovers separated, the naupaka plants that grew nearby saw how sad they were. The very next day, they began to bloom in only half flowers.
There are different versions of the naupaka legend, but all carry the same unhappy theme: lovers that are separated forever, one banished to the mountains, the other to the beach. [10]
Hawaiian Name
Aupaka is a Niʻihau name for this plant.
Huahekili means "hailstones." [8]
Naupaka kahakai means "naupaka by the seashore."
Etymology
Scaevola is derived from the Greek word, scaevus, meaning "left-handed" or "awkward," likely a reference to its unusual half-flower appearance [Wagner et al. 1990].
Since the specific epithets sericea and taccada seem to go back and forth in revisions, we have include the etymology for both.
The specific epithet sericea is derived from the Latin sericeus, silky or sikly-hairy, likely in reference to the short hairs found on the foliage of this plant. [7]
The specific epithet taccada is [needed]
Additional References
[1] "Hawaii Dye Plants and Dye Recipes" by Val Frieling Krohn-Ching, pages 111, 136.
[2] "Plants in Hawaiian Culture" by Beatrice H. Krauss, pages 17, 78, 103.
[3] "Native Planters in Old Hawaii--Their Life, Lore, & Environment" by E. S. Handy and Elizabeth Green Handy, pages 235, 238.
[4] "Nā Lei Makamae--The Treasured Lei" by Marie A. McDonald & Paul R. Weissich, pages XIV-XV, 98-99.
[5] "Hawaiian Herbs of Medicinal Value" by D.M. Kaaiakamanu & J.K. Akina, page 72.
[6] "Native Hawaiian Medicine--Volume III" by The Rev. Kaluna M. Kaʻaiakamanu, page 76.
[7] "The Names of Plants" by David Gledhill, page 350.
[8] "In Gardens of Hawaii" by Marie C. Neal, page 820.
[9] "Paradisus: Hawaiian Plant Watercolors" by Geraldine King Tam and David J. Mabberley, page 20.
[10] Aloha-Hawaii http://www.aloha-hawaii.com [Accessed 12/14/12]
[11] "How to Plant a Native Hawaiian Garden" by Kenneth M. Nagata, page "Naupaka kahakai."
BPK