Limnophila chinensis(Osbeck) Merr.

Finger GrassRice Paddy Herb

WFO wfo-0001136623 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 4 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 4 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.

Limnophila chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. a Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / 2021-11-07 / obs. 168214647
Limnophila chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. b Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 167873967
Limnophila chinensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. c 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 82309620
Limnophila chinensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. d 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 30237696
Limnophila chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. e Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 167874308
Limnophila chinensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. f 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 30237707
Limnophila chinensis, photographed by 葉子
fig. g 葉子, CC0 1.0 / obs. 82309648
Limnophila chinensis, photographed by Agnes Trekker
fig. h Agnes Trekker, CC0 1.0 / obs. 168214606

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 22 botanical countries

Regions where Limnophila chinensis is native: China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicobar Is., Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia China South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanAssamBangladeshCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosMalayaMyanmarNepalSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern Australia Andaman Is.Nicobar Is.
Native distribution of Limnophila chinensis, 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
Andaman Is. AND ASIA-TROPICAL
Assam ASS
Bangladesh BAN
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Nicobar Is. NCB
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU

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 11 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.

  • Ambulia ebracteata Buch.-Ham. ex Hook.f.
  • Ambulia hirsuta (B.Heyne ex Benth.) Baill. ex Wettst.
  • Columnea chinensis Osbeck
  • Columnea cochinchinensis Poir.
  • Columnea stellata Lour.
  • Diceros cochinchinensis Lour.
  • Limnophila chevalieri Bonati
  • Limnophila chinensis subsp. chevalieri (Bonati) T.Yamaz.
  • Limnophila hirsuta (B.Heyne ex Benth.) Benth.
  • Limnophila hirsuta var. clarkei Haines
  • Stemodia hirsuta B.Heyne ex Benth.

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.