Enicostema axillare(Poir. ex Lam.) A.Raynal

WFO wfo-0000668038 Accepted WFO 2026-06 6 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–f · 3 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 3 times, 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.

Enicostema axillare, photographed by S.MORE
fig. a S.MORE, CC0 1.0 / 2014-12-24 / obs. 109141811
Enicostema axillare, photographed by Paulmathi Vinod
fig. b Paulmathi Vinod, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 199954147
Enicostema axillare, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. c Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 91605709
Enicostema axillare, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. d Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 91605537
Enicostema axillare, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. e Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 91605587
Enicostema axillare, photographed by Siddarth Machado
fig. f Siddarth Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 91605581

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 28 botanical countries

Regions where Enicostema axillare is native: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gulf States, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Assam, Cocos (Keeling) Is., India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, West Himalaya AngolaBotswanaEswatiniEthiopiaKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMalawiMozambiqueNamibiaNorthern ProvincesSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaZambiaZimbabweGulf StatesOmanSaudi ArabiaYemenAssamIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.PakistanSri LankaVietnamWest Himalaya
Native distribution of Enicostema axillare, 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.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Botswana BOT
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Malawi MLW
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Northern Provinces TVL
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Cocos (Keeling) Is. CKI
India IND
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Pakistan PAK
Sri Lanka SRL
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
Gulf States GST ASIA-TEMPERATE
Oman OMA
Saudi Arabia SAU
Yemen YEM

Not drawn on the map: Cocos (Keeling) Is.. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

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 19 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.

  • Cicendia hyssopifolia Wight & Arn.
  • Enicostema hyssopifolium (Willd.) I.Verd.
  • Enicostema latilobum N.E.Br.
  • Enicostema littorale Blume
  • Enicostema verticillare (Retz.) Baill.
  • Exacum hyssopifolium Willd.
  • Gentiana axillaris Poir. ex Lam.
  • Gentiana verticillaris Retz.
  • Hippion controversum Spreng.
  • Hippion hyssopifolium (Willd.) Spreng.
  • Hippion littorale Miq.
  • Hippion maritimum F.W.Schmidt
  • Hippion orientale Dalzell & A.Gibson
  • Hippion verticillatum var. hyssopifolium (Willd.) Kuntze
  • Hippion verticillatum var. maritimum (Dalzell) Kuntze
  • Lepinema verticillata Raf.
  • Slevogtia maritima Dalzell
  • Slevogtia orientalis Griseb.
  • Xolemia axillaris (Poir. ex Lam.) Raf.

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.