Derris trifoliataLour.

threeleaf derris

WFO wfo-0000198908 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Derris trifoliata, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. a Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-12-12 / obs. 172777424
Derris trifoliata, photographed by Samuel Lee
fig. b Samuel Lee, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 163049745
Derris trifoliata, photographed by Samuel Lee
fig. c Samuel Lee, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 163057266
Derris trifoliata, photographed by Samuel Lee
fig. d Samuel Lee, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 163057870
Derris trifoliata, photographed by Steve Fitzgerald
fig. e Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 144804179
Derris trifoliata, photographed by S.MORE
fig. f S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / obs. 108800128
Derris trifoliata, photographed by 葉子
fig. g 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 104297138
Derris trifoliata, photographed by 葉子
fig. h 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 104295620

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 47 botanical countries

Regions where Derris trifoliata is native: Comoros, Eswatini, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Mozambique, Réunion, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, China Southeast, Hainan, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, Northern Territory, Queensland, Caroline Is., Fiji, Marianas, Nauru, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is. EswatiniKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMozambiqueSomaliaTanzaniaChina SoutheastHainanTaiwanAssamBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNorthern TerritoryQueenslandFijiNew Caledonia ComorosRéunionSeychellesNansei-shotoAndaman Is.Nicobar Is.Caroline Is.MarianasNauruSamoaTongaVanuatuWallis-Futuna Is.
Native distribution of Derris trifoliata, 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
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Nicobar Is. NCB
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
Comoros COM AFRICA
Eswatini SWZ
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Mozambique MOZ
Réunion REU
Seychelles SEY
Somalia SOM
Tanzania TAN
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Fiji FIJ
Marianas MRN
Nauru NRU
New Caledonia NWC
Samoa SAM
Tonga TON
Vanuatu VAN
Wallis-Futuna Is. WAL
China Southeast CHS ASIA-TEMPERATE
Hainan CHH
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Northern Territory NTA 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.

Flowering 36 in flower of 52 examined

Peak flowering in Jan. Each bar is the share of Derris trifoliata 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. 36 of 52 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 7 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 38 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.

  • Brachypterum floribundum Miq.
  • Dalbergia acuminata Hassk.
  • Dalbergia heterophylla Willd.
  • Dalbergia radicans Zipp. ex Miq.
  • Dalbergia repens Span.
  • Deguelia floribunda (Miq.) Taub.
  • Deguelia multiflora (Benth.) Taub.
  • Deguelia trifoliata (Lour.) Taub.
  • Deguelia uliginosa (Willd.) Baill.
  • Deguelia uliginosa var. loureiri Benth.
  • Derris affinis Benth.
  • Derris floribunda (Miq.) Benth.
  • Derris floribunda Prain
  • Derris forsteniana Blume ex Miq.
  • Derris heterophylla (Willd.) Backer ex K.Heyne
  • Derris heteropylla (Willd.) Backer
  • Derris multiflora Benth.
  • Derris trifoliata var. macrocarpa Domin
  • Derris uliginosa (Willd.) Benth.
  • Derris uliginosa var. loureiroi Benth.
  • Galedupa uliginosa (Willd.) Roxb.
  • Pongamia lucida Graham
  • Pongamia madagascariensis Bojer ex Baker
  • Pongamia madagascariensis Baker

and 14 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. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. 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.