Alectra sessiliflora(Vahl) Kuntze

WFO wfo-0001138068 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Alectra sessiliflora, photographed by linkie
fig. a linkie, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-02 / obs. 195670507
Alectra sessiliflora, photographed by Justin Ponder
fig. b Justin Ponder, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192149605
Alectra sessiliflora, photographed by Sunčana Bradley
fig. c Sunčana Bradley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 180748155
Alectra sessiliflora, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. d Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 179688973
Alectra sessiliflora, photographed by Di Turner
fig. e Di Turner, CC0 1.0 / obs. 133081148
Alectra sessiliflora, photographed by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
fig. f Antoinette Eyssell Knox, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 118387177
Alectra sessiliflora, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. g Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 113103384
Alectra sessiliflora, photographed by Di Turner
fig. h Di Turner, CC0 1.0 / obs. 110012092

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 64 botanical countries

Regions where Alectra sessiliflora is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Réunion, Rodrigues, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China South-Central, China Southeast, Taiwan, Yemen, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEquatorial GuineaEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLesothoLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweChina South-CentralChina SoutheastTaiwanYemenAssamBangladeshEast HimalayaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MyanmarNepalPhilippinesThailandVietnam MauritiusRéunionRodrigues
Native distribution of Alectra sessiliflora, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Lesotho LES
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Réunion REU
Rodrigues ROD
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
East Himalaya EHM
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Philippines PHI
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Taiwan TAI
Yemen YEM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 76 in flower of 80 examined

Peak flowering in Feb. Each bar is the share of Alectra sessiliflora observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 76 of 80 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 6 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 42 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Alectra aberdarica Chiov.
  • Alectra arabica Deflers
  • Alectra asperrima Benth.
  • Alectra barbata (Hiern) Melch.
  • Alectra communis Hemsl.
  • Alectra congolensis Troupin
  • Alectra cordata Benth.
  • Alectra hundtii Melch.
  • Alectra ibityensis Eb.Fisch.
  • Alectra ledermannii Engl.
  • Alectra melampyroides Benth.
  • Alectra moeroensis Engl.
  • Alectra rupestris Bonati
  • Alectra schliebenii Melch.
  • Alectra senegalensis Benth.
  • Alectra senegalensis var. minima A.Chev.
  • Alectra senegalensis var. pallescens Bonati
  • Alectra senegalensis var. pallescens Bonati ex Melch.
  • Alectra sessiliflora f. barbata (Hiern) Hilliard & B.L.Burtt
  • Alectra sessiliflora var. monticola (Engl.) Melch.
  • Alectra sessiliflora var. senegalensis (Benth.) Hepper
  • Alectra sessiliflora var. sessiliflora
  • Alectra thomsonii Hook.f.
  • Alectra trinervis Hemsl.

and 18 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.