Dolichandra unguis-cati(L.) L.G.Lohmann

WFO wfo-0000782438 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Dolichandra unguis-cati, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. a Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-06-13 / obs. 205711682
Dolichandra unguis-cati, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. b Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 205712474
Dolichandra unguis-cati, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. c Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 203462061
Dolichandra unguis-cati, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. d Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 198587959
Dolichandra unguis-cati, photographed by Brian Oakes Haiti Hunter
fig. e Brian Oakes Haiti Hunter, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 193038949
Dolichandra unguis-cati, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. f Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 192824581
Dolichandra unguis-cati, photographed by Eduardo Luis Beltrocco
fig. g Eduardo Luis Beltrocco, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195575244
Dolichandra unguis-cati, photographed by Greg Tasney
fig. h Greg Tasney, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 187028549

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.

The specimen a real sheet, in a real collection

Herbarium
Smithsonian, US National Herbarium
Accession
US 470342
Filed as
Bignonia californica Brandegee
Det. by
not recorded on this sheet
Collected
C. A. Purpus 1901
Origin
MX
The sheet
View the digitised specimen (CC0 1.0)

A real pressed plant, in a real collection, under the accession number above. Not an illustration of one. The holding institution does not serve this sheet’s image to third parties, so there is no photograph here. The record is real and the link goes to it. Where we hold no openly licensed sheet for a species this section is simply absent, and where a sheet never recorded who determined it, that field stays empty rather than being filled in. Roughly half of all herbarium sheets never recorded a determiner, which is ordinary.

Native range 41 botanical countries

Regions where Dolichandra unguis-cati is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is. Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSouthwest CaribbeanSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela BahamasLeeward Is.Venezuelan AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Dolichandra unguis-cati, 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
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Bahamas BAH
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Southwest Caribbean SWC
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Venezuelan Antilles VNA
Windward Is. WIN
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS

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.

Also published as 49 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.

  • Batocydia exoleta Mart. ex DC.
  • Batocydia unguis Mart.
  • Batocydia unguis Mart. ex DC.
  • Batocydia unguis-cati (L.) Mart. ex Britton & P.Wilson
  • Bignonia acutistipula Schltdl.
  • Bignonia californica Brandegee
  • Bignonia catharinensis Schenck
  • Bignonia dasyonyx S.F.Blake
  • Bignonia exoleta Vell.
  • Bignonia gracilis G.Lodd.
  • Bignonia inflata Griseb.
  • Bignonia lanuginosa Hemsl.
  • Bignonia pseudounguis Desf.
  • Bignonia rodigasiana L.Linden
  • Bignonia triantha DC.
  • Bignonia tweedieana Lindl.
  • Bignonia unguis L.
  • Bignonia unguis Vell.
  • Bignonia unguis var. gracilis (G.Lodd.) DC.
  • Bignonia unguis var. guatemalensis K.Schum. & Loes.
  • Bignonia unguis-cati L.
  • Bignonia unguis-cati var. exoleta (Vell.) Sprague
  • Bignonia unguis-cati var. guatemalensis K.Schum. & Loes.
  • Bignonia unguis-cati var. radicans DC.

and 25 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.