Lepturus repens(G.Forst.) R.Br.

Pacific Island thintail

WFO wfo-0000878085 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Lepturus repens, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. a Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-05-14 / obs. 39912725
Lepturus repens, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. b Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 38918236
Lepturus repens, photographed by Peter de Lange
fig. c Peter de Lange, CC0 1.0 / obs. 11080319
Lepturus repens, photographed by Martin Purdy
fig. d Martin Purdy, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 23877126
Lepturus repens, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. e Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 21748227
Lepturus repens, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. f Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 21501432
Lepturus repens, photographed by Cheng-Tao Lin
fig. g Cheng-Tao Lin, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 20935351
Lepturus repens, photographed by Romer N. Rabarijaona
fig. h Romer N. Rabarijaona, CC0 1.0 / obs. 3561676

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 67 botanical countries

Regions where Lepturus repens is native: Aldabra, Chagos Archipelago, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Réunion, Rodrigues, Somalia, Tanzania, China Southeast, Japan, Kazan-retto, Nansei-shoto, Ogasawara-shoto, Taiwan, Andaman Is., Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is., India, Jawa, Laccadive Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Is., South China Sea, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, Kermadec Is., New South Wales, Norfolk Is., Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Caroline Is., Cook Is., Easter Is., Fiji, Gilbert Is., Hawaii, Howland-Baker Is., Line Is., Marcus I., Marianas, Marshall Is., Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Phoenix Is., Pitcairn Is., Samoa, Society Is., Tokelau-Manihiki, Tonga, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wake I., Wallis-Futuna Is. KenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMozambiqueSomaliaTanzaniaChina SoutheastJapanTaiwanIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern AustraliaFijiHawaiiNew Caledonia AldabraChagos ArchipelagoMauritiusRéunionRodriguesNansei-shotoAndaman Is.Christmas I.Laccadive Is.South China SeaKermadec Is.Norfolk Is.Caroline Is.Cook Is.Howland-Baker Is.Line Is.MarianasMarshall Is.NauruNiuePitcairn Is.SamoaSociety Is.Tokelau-ManihikiTongaTuamotuTubuai Is.TuvaluVanuatuWake I.Wallis-Futuna Is.
Native distribution of Lepturus repens, 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
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Cook Is. COO
Easter Is. EAS
Fiji FIJ
Gilbert Is. GIL
Hawaii HAW
Howland-Baker Is. HBI
Line Is. LIN
Marcus I. MCS
Marianas MRN
Marshall Is. MRS
Nauru NRU
New Caledonia NWC
Niue NUE
Phoenix Is. PHX
Pitcairn Is. PIT
Samoa SAM
Society Is. SCI
Tokelau-Manihiki TOK
Tonga TON
Tuamotu TUA
Tubuai Is. TUB
Tuvalu TUV
Vanuatu VAN
Wake I. WAK
Wallis-Futuna Is. WAL
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Christmas I. XMS
Cocos (Keeling) Is. CKI
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laccadive Is. LDV
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
South China Sea SCS
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
Aldabra ALD AFRICA
Chagos Archipelago CGS
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Réunion REU
Rodrigues ROD
Somalia SOM
Tanzania TAN
China Southeast CHS ASIA-TEMPERATE
Japan JAP
Kazan-retto KZN
Nansei-shoto NNS
Ogasawara-shoto OGA
Taiwan TAI
Kermadec Is. KER AUSTRALASIA
New South Wales NSW
Norfolk Is. NFK
Northern Territory NTA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU

Not drawn on the map: Kazan-retto, Ogasawara-shoto, Cocos (Keeling) Is., Easter Is., Gilbert Is., Marcus I., Phoenix Is.. 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 20 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.

  • Lepturus aciculatus Steud.
  • Lepturus acutiglumis Steud.
  • Lepturus cinereus Burcham
  • Lepturus gasparricensis Fosberg
  • Lepturus latifolius (Honda) Nakai
  • Lepturus mildbraedianus I.Hansen & Potztal
  • Lepturus pilgerianus I.Hansen & Potztal
  • Lepturus repens var. cinereus (Burcham) Fosberg
  • Lepturus repens var. latifolius Honda
  • Lepturus repens var. maldenensis F.Br.
  • Lepturus repens var. occidentalis Fosberg
  • Lepturus repens var. palmyrensis F.Br.
  • Lepturus repens var. pubescens Nowack
  • Lepturus repens var. septentrionalis Fosberg
  • Lepturus repens var. subulatus Fosberg
  • Lepturus stoddartii Fosberg
  • Lolium coelorachis J.R.Forst. ex Steud.
  • Monerma repens (G.Forst.) P.Beauv.
  • Monerma stricta A.Rich. ex Raspail
  • Rottboellia repens G.Forst.

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.