Scaevola is a semi-trailing to trailing annual and tender perennial, grown for its perpetual display of curiously shaped flowers. This low, shrubby, evergreen perennial is a familiar annual in areas outside its hardiness range. The fleshy, trailing to mounding stems of Scaevola are crowded with small, bright green, oval leaves with toothed edges, and small delicate flowers which display as an elegant fan. This explains why it is commonly known as the fan flower, based on the shape of their blooms. Numerous white, purple, or lavender flowers, shaped like Japenese fans, appear year round in frost free areas or from late spring to the first fall of frost in colder regions. Also, the flowers are mildly fragrant in the evening.