Korthalsella japonica(Thunb.) Engl.

WFO wfo-0000357525 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 7 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 7 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.

Korthalsella japonica, photographed by Pieter Pelser
fig. a Pieter Pelser, CC BY 4.0 / 2018-09-06 / obs. 24433054
Korthalsella japonica, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. b Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 93397717
Korthalsella japonica, photographed by heikindai_87
fig. c heikindai_87, CC0 1.0 / obs. 122152570
Korthalsella japonica, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. d Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 93397782
Korthalsella japonica, photographed by Quentin Groom
fig. e Quentin Groom, CC0 1.0 / obs. 48423393
Korthalsella japonica, photographed by Steven Bachman
fig. f Steven Bachman, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 13960778
Korthalsella japonica, photographed by heikindai_87
fig. g heikindai_87, CC0 1.0 / obs. 116679192
Korthalsella japonica, photographed by Yj
fig. h Yj, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 18773744

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 42 botanical countries

Regions where Korthalsella japonica is native: Comoros, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Seychelles, Socotra, Afghanistan, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Ogasawara-shoto, Taiwan, Tibet, Assam, Bismarck Archipelago, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, New South Wales, Norfolk Is., Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia DR CongoEthiopiaKenyaMadagascarAfghanistanChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanJapanTaiwanTibetAssamBismarck ArchipelagoEast HimalayaIndiaJawaMalayaMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSumateraThailandVietnamNew South WalesQueenslandSouth AustraliaVictoriaWestern Australia ComorosMauritiusRéunionRodriguesSeychellesKoreaNansei-shotoNorfolk Is.
Native distribution of Korthalsella japonica, 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
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Japan JAP
Korea KOR
Nansei-shoto NNS
Ogasawara-shoto OGA
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Comoros COM AFRICA
DR Congo ZAI
Ethiopia ETH
Kenya KEN
Madagascar MDG
Mauritius MAU
Réunion REU
Rodrigues ROD
Seychelles SEY
Socotra SOC
New South Wales NSW AUSTRALASIA
Norfolk Is. NFK
Queensland QLD
South Australia SOA
Victoria VIC
Western Australia WAU

Not drawn on the map: Socotra, Ogasawara-shoto. We hold no public-domain boundary for these regions, so they are 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 38 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.

  • Bifaria abyssinica Tiegh.
  • Bifaria aitchisonii Tiegh.
  • Bifaria balfourii Tiegh.
  • Bifaria bojeri Tiegh.
  • Bifaria commersonii Tiegh.
  • Bifaria davidiana Tiegh.
  • Bifaria fasciculata Tiegh.
  • Bifaria gaudichaudii Tiegh.
  • Bifaria howensis Tiegh.
  • Bifaria humblotii Tiegh.
  • Bifaria japonica (Thunb.) Tiegh.
  • Bifaria opuntia (Thunb.) Merr.
  • Bifaria richardii Tiegh.
  • Bifaria rubra Tiegh.
  • Korthalsella binii Pic.Serm.
  • Korthalsella brassiana Blakely
  • Korthalsella commersonii (Tiegh.) Danser
  • Korthalsella fasciculata (Tiegh.) Lecomte
  • Korthalsella gaudichaudii (Tiegh.) Lecomte
  • Korthalsella grayi Barlow
  • Korthalsella howensis (Tiegh.) Engl.
  • Korthalsella humblotii (Tiegh.) Engl.
  • Korthalsella japonica subsp. brassiana (Blakely) Barlow
  • Korthalsella japonica var. fasciculata (Tiegh.) H.S.Kiu

and 14 more.

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.