''Scaevola nitida'' (common name - shining fanflower) is an erect shrub in the family Goodeniaceae, native to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It grows to a height of 0.3 to 3 m, and its blue-purple flowers may be seen from August to December.

Description

''Scaevola nitida'' is a spreading shrub growing up to 3 m tall, glabrous, and is sticky when young. The leaves have no stalk and are obovate to narrowly elliptic, and toothed, with the leaf blade itself being from 2 to 8.7 cm long by 7–40 mm wide. The flowers occur in terminal spikes which are up to 6.5 cm long. The sepals are rim-like and 0.3 mm high. The blue to lilac corolla is 13–20 mm long, pilose or glabrous outside, and bearded inside. The ovary is 2-locular. The grooved fruit is cylindrical and up to 4 mm long, and is smooth.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in the

IBRA Regions The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...

of the

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a pl ...

, the Geraldton Sandplains, the

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named in ...

region, the

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

, and the Warren biogeographic region, growing on white or grey sand and clay, in coastal limestone cliffs and dunes.

Taxonomy and etymology

It was first described and named by Robert Brown in 1810, and its specific epithet, ''nitida'', is a Latin adjective meaning "shining".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17480632 nitida Eudicots of Western Australia Asterales of Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)