Scaevola taccadaBeach Naupaka

Nothing sits closer to the tideline than Scaevola taccada. The Beach Naupaka is a thick, fleshy-leaved shrub of Indo-Pacific strand vegetation that grows on raw beach sand and coral rubble, takes salt spray straight off the water, and carries small white fan-shaped flowers for most of the year.

It is used for dune stabilisation, coastal hedging and screening, and beachfront and resort planting where nothing softer will hold.

Specifications

• Height1 to 3 metres
• Width2 to 3 metres
• Native toCoastal tropical Indo-Pacific, from East Africa through Asia to Australia and the Pacific islands
• FoliageThick, fleshy, spoon-shaped pale green leaves clustered at the stem tips; evergreen
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilPrefers sandy, free-draining and saline soils; thrives on raw beach sand and coral rubble
• LightFull sun
• WaterLow; highly drought-tolerant once established
• ClimateThrives in tropical and subtropical coastal regions and tolerates salt spray and strong wind

Additional Features

• FlowersSmall white fan-shaped flowers, split as though half has been torn away, produced most of the year
• UsesIdeal for dune stabilisation, coastal hedging and screening, beachfront and resort planting and windbreaks
• SpacingPlant 1.5 to 2 metres apart for a continuous coastal hedge
• Low MaintenanceTrim to shape; needs no irrigation once away
• Pest ResistanceRobust and generally free of pests
• Salt ToleranceGrows in the front line of coastal vegetation and tolerates direct salt spray
• Drought ToleranceSurvives on beach sand with no supplementary water
• Erosion ControlBinds loose sand and stabilises the front face of a dune system

Beach Naupaka is the first shrub to try when a planting has to survive at the top of a beach, and one of the very few that will.