Heteropterys laurifolia(L.) A.Juss.

dragon withe

WFO wfo-0000721456 Accepted WFO 2026-06 6 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–f · 5 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 5 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.

Heteropterys laurifolia, photographed by Francisco Farriols Sarabia
fig. a Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-04-16 / obs. 34974342
Heteropterys laurifolia, photographed by Francisco Farriols Sarabia
fig. b Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 20415446
Heteropterys laurifolia, photographed by Francisco Farriols Sarabia
fig. c Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 817191
Heteropterys laurifolia, photographed by Francisco Farriols Sarabia
fig. d Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 8612323
Heteropterys laurifolia, photographed by Neptalí Ramírez Marcial
fig. e Neptalí Ramírez Marcial, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 8625402
Heteropterys laurifolia, photographed by Francisco Farriols Sarabia
fig. f Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 34974297

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 23 botanical countries

Regions where Heteropterys laurifolia is native: Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuelan Antilles Mexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeBoliviaColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáPeruPuerto Rico Leeward Is.Venezuelan Antilles
Native distribution of Heteropterys laurifolia, 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
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bolivia BOL
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Venezuelan Antilles VNA
Mexico Central MXC NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Gulf MXG
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 21 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.

  • Banisteria caerulea Lam.
  • Banisteria lancifolia West ex Schltdl.
  • Banisteria laurifolia L.
  • Banisteria magnoliifolia Ham.
  • Banisteria paniculata DC.
  • Banisteria pubiflora DC.
  • Byrsonima stigmatophora Schltdl.
  • Heteropterys caerulea (Lam.) DC.
  • Heteropterys caerulea var. angustifolia A.Juss.
  • Heteropterys caerulea var. diversifolia Griseb.
  • Heteropterys floribunda Kunth
  • Heteropterys floribunda f. eglandulosa Donn.Sm.
  • Heteropterys laurifolia subvar. floribunda Nied.
  • Heteropterys laurifolia var. antillana Nied.
  • Heteropterys laurifolia var. laurifolia
  • Heteropterys laurifolia var. mexicana Nied.
  • Heteropterys longifolia Kunth
  • Heteropterys longifolia var. borealis Nied.
  • Heteropterys longifolia var. martinicensis Nied.
  • Heteropterys pubiflora (DC.) Bello
  • Malpighia dubia Cav.

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.