Goodeniaceae R.Br.

Mostly perennial or annual herbs, but sometimes subshrubs, shrubs or rarely scramblers, glabrous or hairy with simple or branched or glandular hairs, sometimes viscid; roots usually primary, sometimes adventitious. Leaves mostly alternate or radical, rarely opposite; lamina simple, margin entire to dentate or rarely lobed; stipules absent but often with an axillary tuft of hairs. Inflorescence a dichasium, thyrse, raceme, umbel, spike or a single terminal head surrounded by an involucre of green bracts, or flowers solitary. Flowers zygomorphic or rarely actinomorphic (Brunonia), bisexual, protandrous. Sepals usually 5, rarely 3, sometimes reduced to rim or obsolete, free or sometimes connate, sometimes persistent (Brunonia). Corolla of 5 petals, connate at least to some degree, usually deeply slit (except Brunonia), fanlike or two-lipped, or sometimes pouched, the lobes ± winged, often with auricles on margin of the adaxial slit, the auricles surrounding the indusium. Stamens 5, opposite sepals, epigynous or epipetalous or rarely apparently hypogynous; anthers free or connate into a tube around the style, tetrasporangiate, dithecal, introrse, dehiscing by longitudinal slits. Intrastaminal nectariferous glands sometimes present, glands 1 or 2. Gynoecium, on anatomical evidence, suggested to be of 4 connate carpels. Ovary usually inferior, or sometimes half-inferior or superior (Brunonia, Goodenia), usually 2-locular (septum usually incomplete), rarely 4 or apparently 1; style usually entire with a hollow pollen-cup (indusium) usually enclosing the stigma, often curved; indusium often equipped with hairs or glabrous; stigma 2-fid or unlobed, rarely 2–4-fid. Ovule 1–numerous per locule; placentation axile or basal. Fruit usually a capsule, sometimes a drupe or nut (sometimes with persistent calyx, in Brunonia), rarely separating transversely into 1-seeded woody segments. Seeds 1–numerous, often flattened and winged, with or without endosperm (Brunonia), rarely with a caruncle; testa membranous to thickened; embryo straight.

Goodenia, Lechenaultia and Scaevola are grown as ornamental plants, e.g. cultivar Fan-flowers commonly used as groundcovers. Goodenia ovata (Hop Goodenia) is often used in revegetation projects in urban areas in southeastern Australia. Several species have medicinal uses. An extract from Goodenia ovata was used by Aboriginal people as a soporific for their children (HortFlora). Scaevola taccada (Beach Naupaka) is coastal shrub sometimes used to prevent beach erosion (Christenhusz et al. 2017).