INKBERRY  Scaevola plumieri
also known as Fanflower, Beach Lobelia, Sea Lobelia, Gullfeed, Half Flower, Waxy Bush and in Ghana, West Africa, it is known as “blue fruit of the spirits.”

Native to western Australia, this plant is rarely found outside Oceania.  As a drift seed, Inkberry will occasionally drift to Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean after a journey of tens of thousands of miles.  Drift seeds account for 0.1 percent of the 250,000 seed bearing plant species on Earth.  Half of these drift seed species will not last for more than a month in ocean waters.  Inkberry is a valiant and tough exception in the seed-bearing world.  It can withstand yearlong journeys to new shores before establishing itself on new beachheads.  An Inkberry seed found its way to the beach overlooking Tortola in the BVI and established itself convincingly there. 

The Flower resembles other Lobelia Flowers, though it is larger with soft striping on white petals.  Its fruits are a dark inky purple, giving rise to the name the Angels chose from amongst its other common names. Inkberry’s wide open and spreading bottom petals resemble the open tailgate on an amphibious vehicle that allows vehicles onboard to drive onto the sands, reflecting how this plant lands and colonizes on shifting sands.
  
Once ashore, Inkberry forms many spreading branches anchored deeply in the sand.  It traps the sand in this many branched configuration and thus creates and stabilizes dunes, all of which contribute to land formation.  Once Inkberry is in place and has stabilized the terrain, other plants are able to grow.

Inkberry tells us, “I AM for grounding new ideas, new visions, new ways to solve old problems and new intellectual properties into daily consciousness.  I support the bringing of new thought forms out of the unconscious and then grounding these ideas in a way that others can grasp and then make use of.  I can help bring into form a project that felt out of reach.  I offer my support to innovators during the transition from idea into form and will serve anyone who is part of a paradigm shift, big or little.”