Plants native to Mozambique Channel Is.

We document 53 of the 68 species Kew’s World Checklist records as native to Mozambique Channel Is.. Native means native: introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where these plants are from, not everywhere they now grow.

Documented 53 Native, per Kew 68 Coverage 78% TDWG MCI

Best documented by photographic coverage

Every documented species 53 native to Mozambique Channel Is.

Species	Authority	Family	Photographs
Avicennia marina	(Forssk.) Vierh.	Acanthaceae	8
Barringtonia racemosa	(L.) Spreng.	Lecythidaceae	8
Boerhavia diffusa	L.	Nyctaginaceae	8
Boerhavia repens	L.	Nyctaginaceae	8
Bruguiera gymnorhiza	(L.) Lam. ex Savigny	Rhizophoraceae	8
Calophyllum inophyllum	L.	Calophyllaceae	8
Canavalia rosea	(Sw.) DC.	Fabaceae	8
Cassytha filiformis	L.	Lauraceae	8
Ceriops tagal	(Perr.) C.B.Rob.	Rhizophoraceae	8
Colubrina asiatica	Brongn.	Rhamnaceae	8
Commelina forskaolii	Vahl	Commelinaceae	8
Cordia subcordata	Lam.	Cordiaceae	8
Cynodon dactylon	(L.) Pers.	Poaceae	8
Cyperus brevifolius	(Rottb.) Hassk.	Cyperaceae	8
Cyperus dubius	Rottb.	Cyperaceae	8
Cyperus rotundus	L.	Cyperaceae	8
Dactyloctenium aegyptium	(L.) Willd.	Poaceae	8
Dipcadi brevifolium	(Thunb.) Fourc.	Asparagaceae	8
Eragrostis ciliaris	(L.) R.Br.	Poaceae	8
Eragrostis pilosa	(L.) P.Beauv.	Poaceae	8
Euphorbia stenoclada	Baill.	Euphorbiaceae	8
Fimbristylis cymosa	R.Br.	Cyperaceae	8
Flueggea virosa	(Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle	Phyllanthaceae	8
Guettarda speciosa	L.	Rubiaceae	8
Guilandina bonduc	L.	Fabaceae	8
Heliotropium arboreum	(Blanco) Mabb.	Heliotropiaceae	8
Hyphaene coriacea	Gaertn.	Arecaceae	8
Lemna aequinoctialis	Welw.	Araceae	8
Megathyrsus maximus	(Jacq.) B.K.Simon & S.W.L.Jacobs	Poaceae	8
Pemphis acidula	J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.	Lythraceae	8
Pisonia grandis	R.Br.	Nyctaginaceae	8
Portulaca oleracea	L.	Portulacaceae	8
Premna serratifolia	L.	Lamiaceae	8
Rhizophora mucronata	Poir.	Rhizophoraceae	8
Scaevola plumieri	(L.) Vahl	Goodeniaceae	8
Sesuvium portulacastrum	(L.) L.	Aizoaceae	8
Sideroxylon inerme	L.	Sapotaceae	8
Stenotaphrum dimidiatum	(L.) Brongn.	Poaceae	8
Striga asiatica	(L.) Kuntze	Orobanchaceae	8
Suriana maritima	L.	Surianaceae	8
Tribulus cistoides	L.	Zygophyllaceae	8
Tribulus terrestris	L.	Zygophyllaceae	8
Tricholaena monachne	(Trin.) Stapf & C.E.Hubb.	Poaceae	8
Wollastonia biflora	DC.	Asteraceae	8
Thalassodendron ciliatum	(Forssk.) Hartog	Cymodoceaceae	7
Thespesia populneoides	(Roxb.) Kostel.	Malvaceae	6
Halodule uninervis	(Forssk.) Boiss.	Cymodoceaceae	5
Sophora denudata	Bory	Fabaceae	5
Sida ovata	Forssk.	Malvaceae	4
Tecticornia indica	(Willd.) K.A.Sheph. & Paul G.Wilson	Chenopodiaceae	4
Phyllanthus revaughanii	Coode	Phyllanthaceae	3
Salvadora angustifolia	Turrill	Salvadoraceae	3
Sclerodactylon macrostachyum	(Benth.) A.Camus	Poaceae	3

What this page does not tell you

Kew records 15 more species as native to Mozambique Channel Is. that we do not document. They are real, accepted plants. They have no page here because we could not find three photographs of them licensed for commercial use, and this site publishes no species it cannot show you. That gap is the honest measure of what we are missing, and it is why we print both numbers rather than the flattering one.

This is a checklist of what is native, not a guide to what will grow in your garden, and it carries no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not have those from a source we can cite.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). Native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country (MCI). Introduced, extinct and doubtful records excluded. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.
World Flora Online Plant List. Accepted names, authorities, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
iNaturalist. Photographs, restricted to CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA. Retrieved 2026-06-27.