Scaevola taccada is a shrub that can grow up to 3 meters tall, and bears simple, alternate leaves. These leaves are oblanceolate, obovate, or occasionally suborbicular, measuring 5–20 cm in length and 5–7 cm in width, with a rounded apex featuring denticulate margins often colored purple. The base of the leaf gradually tapers and includes tufts of silky white hairs at the axils. The leaf surfaces are either glabrous or moderately pubescent, and it lacks stipules. The flowers appear in cymes in the upper leaf axils, extending 1–2 cm on silky pubescent pedicels less than 10 mm long, each subtended by paired bracteoles. These flowers are bisexual (perfect) and display a substantial irregularity. The calyx is conspicuous, almost as long as the ovary, with narrowly lanceolate lobes around 3–6 mm long and sparsely pubescent. The corolla is funnelform–unilabiate and 5-parted, with a tube that splits adaxially and is pale yellowish green externally and white or cream-colored internally, often with purple streaks. The tube is straight, measuring 8–12 mm long, and the lanceolate lobes are 8–12 mm long with winged margins. It features five distinct stamens that are about as long as the corolla tube, with introrse, dithecal anthers that open via longitudinal slits. The fruit is a 2-celled, white, compressed-globose drupe, measuring 10–13 mm long and 5–7 mm wide, and is glabrous. The seeds are numerous and contain oily endosperm. It is commonly found in coastal sites between 0-150 meters.