Pupalia lappacea(L.) Juss.

forest burrsweethearts

WFO wfo-0000394468 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Pupalia lappacea, photographed by Brendan Smith
fig. a Brendan Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-05-26 / obs. 132098216
Pupalia lappacea, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. b Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 125890940
Pupalia lappacea, photographed by Margaret Burger
fig. c Margaret Burger, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 125955836
Pupalia lappacea, photographed by Henry de Lange
fig. d Henry de Lange, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 45507079
Pupalia lappacea, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. e Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 154735784
Pupalia lappacea, photographed by Rosemary Harrison
fig. f Rosemary Harrison, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 136481173
Pupalia lappacea, photographed by Rosemary Harrison
fig. g Rosemary Harrison, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 141411032
Pupalia lappacea, photographed by Jean-Paul Boerekamps
fig. h Jean-Paul Boerekamps, CC0 1.0 / obs. 199927685

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 59 botanical countries

Regions where Pupalia lappacea is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, DR Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Socotra, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Gulf States, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, West Himalaya AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaCameroonCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicChadDjiboutiDR CongoEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweAfghanistanGulf StatesOmanSaudi ArabiaYemenAssamBangladeshIndiaJawaLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiWest Himalaya
Native distribution of Pupalia lappacea, 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
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Djibouti DJI
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Socotra SOC
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
India IND
Jawa JAW
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
West Himalaya WHM
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Gulf States GST
Oman OMA
Saudi Arabia SAU
Yemen YEM

Not drawn on the map: Socotra. 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.

Where it actually grows measured, from 378 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low 4.0 °C 11.5 °C 18.7 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 24.5 °C 29.0 °C 38.5 °C
Annual rainfall 263 mm 720 mm 1,160 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 1 mm 25 mm 153 mm

It is barely found anywhere that freezes. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 378 research-grade observations of Pupalia lappacea that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 18 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.

  • Achyranthes atropurpurea Lam.
  • Achyranthes echinata Retz.
  • Achyranthes lappacea L.
  • Achyranthes patula L.f.
  • Achyranthes styracifolia Lam.
  • Aerva velutina Moq.
  • Amaranthus arctioideus Perr. ex Moq.
  • Cadelari lappacea (L.) Medik.
  • Codivalia lappacea (L.) Raf.
  • Codivalia patula (L.f.) Raf.
  • Desmochaeta flavescens DC.
  • Desmochaeta lappacea (L.) Griff.
  • Desmochaeta patula Roem. & Schult.
  • Desmochaeta sanguinolenta Link
  • Desmochaeta xanthioides A.Braun
  • Pupalia atropurpurea (Lam.) Moq.
  • Pupalia lappacea var. lappacea
  • Pupalia velutina Moq.

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.