Glinus oppositifoliusAug.DC.

WFO wfo-0000703723 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Glinus oppositifolius, photographed by Rongrong Angkaew
fig. a Rongrong Angkaew, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-04-17 / obs. 121304065

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 71 botanical countries

Regions where Glinus oppositifolius is native: Aldabra, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, China Southeast, Hainan, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesChadCongoDR CongoEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateGabonGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoZambiaZimbabweChina SoutheastHainanTaiwanAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandSouth AustraliaVictoriaWestern Australia AldabraComorosSeychellesSouth China Sea
Native distribution of Glinus oppositifolius, 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
Aldabra ALD AFRICA
Angola ANG
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Chad CHA
Comoros COM
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Seychelles SEY
Sierra Leone SIE
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
South China Sea SCS
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
South Australia SOA
Victoria VIC
Western Australia WAU
China Southeast CHS ASIA-TEMPERATE
Hainan CHH
Taiwan TAI

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 192 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 9.9 °C 15.4 °C 22.4 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 28.8 °C 32.1 °C 39.1 °C
Annual rainfall 583 mm 1,363 mm 3,209 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 3 mm 49 mm 133 mm

It is barely found anywhere that freezes. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 192 research-grade observations of Glinus oppositifolius 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 14 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.

  • Glinus cambessedesii Fenzl
  • Glinus cambessedesii var. nudiusculus Fenzl
  • Glinus cambessedesii var. villosus Fenzl
  • Glinus denticulatus (Guill. & Perr.) Fenzl
  • Glinus mollugo Fenzl
  • Glinus oppositifolius var. parvifolius Hauman
  • Glinus spergula (L.) Steud.
  • Glinus spergula var. rotundifolia (Ewart & A.H.K.Petrie) Ewart & P.H.Jarrett
  • Mollugo glinoides A.Rich.
  • Mollugo oppositifolia L.
  • Mollugo serrulata Sond.
  • Mollugo spergula L.
  • Nemallosis prostrata Raf.
  • Pharnaceum spergula (L.) Dillwyn

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.