Shirakiopsis elliptica(Hochst.) Esser

WFO wfo-0000309756 Accepted WFO 2026-06 3 photographs CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–c · 1 observation

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 1 time, 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.

Shirakiopsis elliptica, photographed by Brian du Preez
fig. a Brian du Preez, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2014-08-21 / obs. 15595134
Shirakiopsis elliptica, photographed by Brian du Preez
fig. b Brian du Preez, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15595137
Shirakiopsis elliptica, photographed by Brian du Preez
fig. c Brian du Preez, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15595140

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 32 botanical countries

Regions where Shirakiopsis elliptica is native: Angola, Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe AngolaBeninBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEswatiniEthiopiaGabonGhanaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalLiberiaMalawiMozambiqueNigeriaRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabwe
Native distribution of Shirakiopsis elliptica, 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
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Liberia LBR
Malawi MLW
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM

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 13 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.

  • Aporosa somalensis Mattei
  • Excoecaria abyssinica Müll.Arg.
  • Excoecaria manniana Müll.Arg.
  • Sapium abyssinicum (Müll.Arg.) Benth.
  • Sapium ellipticum (Hochst.) Pax
  • Sapium kerstingii Pax
  • Sapium mannianum (Müll.Arg.) Hiern
  • Sapium mannianum (Müll.Arg.) Hiern
  • Sapium mannianum (Müll.Arg.) Benth.
  • Sclerocroton ellipticus Hochst.
  • Shirakia elliptica (Hochst.) Kruijt
  • Stillingia elliptica (Hochst.) Baill.
  • Tragia elliptica Hochst.

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.