Hyphaene petersianaKlotzsch ex Mart.

WFO wfo-0000216286 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Hyphaene petersiana, photographed by National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project
fig. a National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-08-20 / obs. 166654041
Hyphaene petersiana, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. b Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 25489343
Hyphaene petersiana, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. c Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 25374762
Hyphaene petersiana, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. d Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 25311902
Hyphaene petersiana, photographed by Jean-Paul Boerekamps
fig. e Jean-Paul Boerekamps, CC0 1.0 / obs. 111000053
Hyphaene petersiana, photographed by Crap Fou
fig. f Crap Fou, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 57356606
Hyphaene petersiana, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. g Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15645285
Hyphaene petersiana, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. h Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15092742

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 13 botanical countries

Regions where Hyphaene petersiana is native: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Caprivi Strip, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe AngolaBotswanaBurundiCaprivi StripDR CongoMalawiMozambiqueNamibiaNorthern ProvincesRwandaTanzaniaZambiaZimbabwe
Native distribution of Hyphaene petersiana, 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
Burundi BUR
Caprivi Strip CPV
DR Congo ZAI
Malawi MLW
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Tanzania TAN
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM

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 23 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.

  • Chamaeriphes benguelensis (Welw. ex H.Wendl.) Kuntze
  • Chamaeriphes ventricosa (J.Kirk) Kuntze
  • Hyphaene aurantiaca Dammer
  • Hyphaene benguelensis Welw. ex H.Wendl.
  • Hyphaene benguelensis var. plagiocarpa (Dammer) Furtado
  • Hyphaene benguelensis var. ventricosa (J.Kirk) Furtado
  • Hyphaene bussei Dammer
  • Hyphaene goetzei Dammer
  • Hyphaene multiformis subsp. plagiosperma Dammer ex Becc.
  • Hyphaene obovata Furtado
  • Hyphaene ovata Furtado
  • Hyphaene plagiocarpa Dammer
  • Hyphaene ventricosa J.Kirk
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. ambolandensis Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. anisopleura Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. aurantiaca (Dammer) Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. benguelensis (Welw. ex H.Wendl.) Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. bussei (Dammer) Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. goetzei (Dammer) Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. petersiana (Klotzsch ex Mart.) Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. plagiocarpa (Dammer) Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. russisiensis Becc.
  • Hyphaene ventricosa subsp. useguhensis Becc.

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.