Boehmeria virgata(G.Forst.) Guill.

WFO wfo-0000567808 Accepted WFO 2026-06 3 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–c · 1 observation

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 1 time, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Boehmeria virgata, photographed by Augustin Soulard
fig. a Augustin Soulard, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-12-22 / obs. 173602305

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 Boehmeria virgata is native: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Réunion, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China South-Central, China Southeast, Tibet, Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, New South Wales, Queensland, Caroline Is., Fiji, Marianas, Marquesas, Samoa, Society Is., Tonga, Tubuai Is., Vanuatu AngolaBurundiCameroonCentral African RepublicCongoDR CongoEthiopiaGabonGhanaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMozambiqueNigeriaRwandaSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweChina South-CentralChina SoutheastTibetAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaNew South WalesQueenslandFiji ComorosMauritiusRéunionCaroline Is.MarianasMarquesasSamoaSociety Is.TongaTubuai Is.Vanuatu
Native distribution of Boehmeria virgata, 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
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Comoros COM
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Réunion REU
Rwanda RWA
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Fiji FIJ
Marianas MRN
Marquesas MRQ
Samoa SAM
Society Is. SCI
Tonga TON
Tubuai Is. TUB
Vanuatu VAN
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Tibet CHT
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD

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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 537 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -33.3 °C -23.3 °C -12.2 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 15.5 °C 23.5 °C 25.4 °C
Annual rainfall 337 mm 601 mm 915 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 10 mm 36 mm 68 mm

It is found where winters are arctic. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 537 research-grade observations of Boehmeria virgata that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 92 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.

  • Boehmeria canescens (Wedd.) Blume
  • Boehmeria caudata Poir.
  • Boehmeria caudata (Burm.f.) J.J.Sm.
  • Boehmeria caudata var. celebica (Blume) J.J.Sm.
  • Boehmeria caudata var. pendula J.J.Sm.
  • Boehmeria caudata var. scabrella J.J.Sm.
  • Boehmeria celebica (Blume) Blume
  • Boehmeria cylindrica Hb. ex Blume
  • Boehmeria densiglomerata W.T.Wang
  • Boehmeria dolichostachya W.T.Wang
  • Boehmeria dolichostachya var. dolichostachya
  • Boehmeria dolichostachya var. mollis (W.T.Wang) W.T.Wang & C.J.Chen
  • Boehmeria elliptica Wedd.
  • Boehmeria elongata Steud.
  • Boehmeria erythropoda Miq.
  • Boehmeria greviaefolia C.Presl
  • Boehmeria holosericea var. strigosa W.T.Wang
  • Boehmeria huegeliana Blume
  • Boehmeria interrupta Guill.
  • Boehmeria macrophylla Hornem.
  • Boehmeria macrophylla subsp. canescens (Wedd.) Panigrahi & Murti
  • Boehmeria macrophylla var. canescens (Wedd.) D.G.Long
  • Boehmeria macrophylla var. dongtousensis W.T.Wang
  • Boehmeria macrophylla var. longissima (Hook.f.) V.S.Ramach. & V.J.Nair

and 68 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.