Glinus lotoidesL.

lotus sweetjuice

WFO wfo-0000703708 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Glinus lotoides, photographed by Duarte Frade
fig. a Duarte Frade, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-08-04 / obs. 148597349

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 898086
Filed as
Glinus lotoides L.
Det. by
Strong, Mark T., (BOT), Smithsonian Institution - National Museum of Natural History (UNITED STATES)
Collected
F. Q. Otanes 1914
Origin
PH
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 91 botanical countries

Regions where Glinus lotoides is native: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Free State, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China South-Central, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Hainan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Yemen, Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kriti, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain AlgeriaAngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicChadCongoDjiboutiDR CongoEgyptEritreaEthiopiaFree StateGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMalawiMaliMauritaniaMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSenegalSierra LeoneSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTunisiaUgandaZambiaZimbabweChina South-CentralCyprusEast Aegean Is.HainanIranIraqLebanon-SyriaOmanPalestineSaudi ArabiaTaiwanTranscaucasusTürkiyeYemenAssamBangladeshCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MyanmarNepalPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandSouth AustraliaVictoriaWestern AustraliaAlbaniaBulgariaGreeceItalyKritiNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalRomaniaSiciliaSpain Sardegna
Native distribution of Glinus lotoides, 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
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Angola ANG
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
Djibouti DJI
DR Congo ZAI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Morocco MOR
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Socotra SOC
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Tunisia TUN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Hainan CHH
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Taiwan TAI
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Yemen YEM
Albania ALB EUROPE
Bulgaria BUL
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
South Australia SOA
Victoria VIC
Western Australia WAU

Not drawn on the map: Socotra. 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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 461 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 3.5 °C 7.2 °C 15.8 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 27.7 °C 32.2 °C 40.8 °C
Annual rainfall 153 mm 575 mm 2,129 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 2 mm 18 mm 112 mm

It is found where winters are cool but frost is light or absent. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 461 research-grade observations of Glinus lotoides 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 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.

  • Doosera esculenta Roxb. ex Wight & Arn.
  • Glinus astrolasion Zipp. ex Span.
  • Glinus dahomensis A.Chev.
  • Glinus dictamnoides Burm.f.
  • Glinus lotoides subsp. hirtus (Thunb.) M.R.Almeida
  • Glinus lotoides var. dictamnoides (Burm.f.) Maire
  • Glinus lotoides var. lotoides
  • Glinus lotoides var. macrantha Pitot ex Täckh. & Boulos
  • Glinus lotoides var. micrantha Pitot ex Täckh. & Boulos
  • Glinus lotoides var. pedicellatus Domin
  • Glinus micranthus Boiss.
  • Glinus ononoides Burm.f.
  • Glinus parviflorus Wall.
  • Mollugo glinus A.Rich.
  • Mollugo hirta Thunb.
  • Mollugo hirta var. lotoides (L.) C.B.Clarke
  • Mollugo lotoides C.B.Clarke
  • Mollugo lotoides (Loefl.) Kuntze
  • Pharnaceum hirtum Spreng.

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.