Laportea aestuans(L.) Chew

West Indian woodnettle

WFO wfo-0000445388 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Laportea aestuans, photographed by Maria Janeiro
fig. a Maria Janeiro, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-01 / obs. 192897257
Laportea aestuans, photographed by Zoltán Stekkelpak
fig. b Zoltán Stekkelpak, CC0 1.0 / obs. 170342633
Laportea aestuans, photographed by Victor Farjalla Pontes
fig. c Victor Farjalla Pontes, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 140489369
Laportea aestuans, photographed by Helio Lourencini
fig. d Helio Lourencini, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 138212523
Laportea aestuans, photographed by Jacy Chen
fig. e Jacy Chen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 130250004
Laportea aestuans, photographed by GERMAN LEONEL SARMIENTO CRUZ
fig. f GERMAN LEONEL SARMIENTO CRUZ, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 109653753
Laportea aestuans, photographed by Ben Machado
fig. g Ben Machado, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 76580528
Laportea aestuans, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. h Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 61154234

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 76 botanical countries

Regions where Laportea aestuans is native: Aldabra, Angola, Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Réunion, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Cocos (Keeling) Is., India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Sumatera, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Central American Pacific Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Galápagos, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is. AngolaBeninBurkinaBurundiCameroonCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEritreaEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaLiberiaMadagascarMalawiMaliMozambiqueNigeriaRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweYemenIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.SumateraBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralCentral American Pacific Is.ColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela AldabraCape VerdeRéunionSeychellesBahamasGalápagosLeeward Is.Venezuelan AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Laportea aestuans, 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
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Verde CVI
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
Liberia LBR
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Réunion REU
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Seychelles SEY
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Bahamas BAH SOUTHERN AMERICA
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Central American Pacific Is. CPI
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Galápagos GAL
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Venezuelan Antilles VNA
Windward Is. WIN
Cocos (Keeling) Is. CKI ASIA-TROPICAL
India IND
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Sumatera SUM
Yemen YEM ASIA-TEMPERATE

Not drawn on the map: Cocos (Keeling) Is.. 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.

Flowering 86 in flower of 102 examined

Peak flowering in Apr. Each bar is the share of Laportea aestuans observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 86 of 102 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 2 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 34 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.

  • Fleurya aestuans (L.) Gaudich.
  • Fleurya aestuans (L.) Gaudich.
  • Fleurya aestuans var. glandulosa (Wedd.) Wedd.
  • Fleurya aestuans var. linnaeana Wedd.
  • Fleurya aestuans var. petiolata (Decne.) Wedd.
  • Fleurya aestuans var. racemosa (Burm. ex Wedd.) Wedd.
  • Fleurya aestuans var. tuberculata (Andersson) Wedd.
  • Fleurya caraoellana (Schrank) Wedd.
  • Fleurya cordata Gaudich.
  • Fleurya corylifolia Gaudich.
  • Fleurya cymosa (Hassk.) Wedd.
  • Fleurya glandulosa Wedd.
  • Fleurya ingrata Miq.
  • Fleurya lurida Blume
  • Fleurya perrieri Leandri
  • Fleurya petiolata Decne.
  • Fleurya racemosa Gaudich.
  • Fleuryopsis petiolata (Decne.) Opiz
  • Laportea bathiei Leandri
  • Laportea glandulosa (Wedd.) V.C.Lima
  • Urera gaudichaudiana Hensl.
  • Urtica aestuans L.
  • Urtica caravellana Schrank
  • Urtica cordata Gaudich.

and 10 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. 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.