Salacia chinensisL.

WFO wfo-0001065503 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

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.

Salacia chinensis, photographed by coenobita
fig. a coenobita, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-01-06 / obs. 29944936
Salacia chinensis, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. b Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 124559262
Salacia chinensis, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. c Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 124559279
Salacia chinensis, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. d Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 124559284
Salacia chinensis, photographed by Abu Hamas
fig. e Abu Hamas, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 169854270
Salacia chinensis, photographed by Abu Hamas
fig. f Abu Hamas, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 169854272
Salacia chinensis, photographed by Oliver S.
fig. g Oliver S., CC BY 4.0 / obs. 141585974
Salacia chinensis, photographed by Oliver S.
fig. h Oliver S., CC BY 4.0 / obs. 141585997

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 29 botanical countries

Regions where Salacia chinensis is native: China Southeast, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Philippines, Solomon Is., Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, Caroline Is., Vanuatu China SoutheastAssamBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNew GuineaPhilippinesSolomon Is.Sri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamNorthern TerritoryQueenslandWestern Australia Andaman Is.Nicobar Is.Caroline Is.Vanuatu
Native distribution of Salacia 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
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
New Guinea NWG
Nicobar Is. NCB
Philippines PHI
Solomon Is. SOL
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
Northern Territory NTA AUSTRALASIA
Queensland QLD
Western Australia WAU
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC
Vanuatu VAN
China Southeast CHS ASIA-TEMPERATE

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.

  • Johnia coromandeliana Roxb.
  • Johnia serrata Buch.-Ham.
  • Salacia chinensis var. latifolia (Wall. ex M.A.Lawson) Chakrab. & M.Gangop.
  • Salacia chinensis var. parvifolia (Tardieu) H.H.Pham
  • Salacia coromandeliana Teijsm. & Binn.
  • Salacia evonymiflora Zipp. ex Miq.
  • Salacia latifolia Wall. ex M.A.Lawson
  • Salacia littoralis Backer
  • Salacia naumannii Engl.
  • Salacia patens Decne.
  • Salacia podopetala Turcz.
  • Salacia prinoides (Willd.) DC.
  • Salacia prinoides var. parvifolia Tardieu
  • Salacia prinoides var. timorensis Span.
  • Salacia sinensis J.F.Gmel.
  • Salacia socia Craib
  • Salacia wightiana Wall.
  • Tonsella chinensis (L.) Spreng.
  • Tontelea chinensis Spreng.
  • Tontelea prinoides Willd.

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.