Sida albaL.

WFO wfo-0000496944 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 5 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 5 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.

Sida alba, photographed by Matthew Fainman
fig. a Matthew Fainman, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-05-02 / obs. 125167768
Sida alba, photographed by Nicola van Berkel
fig. b Nicola van Berkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15164428
Sida alba, photographed by Wynand Uys
fig. c Wynand Uys, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 113781920
Sida alba, photographed by Manuel R Popp
fig. d Manuel R Popp, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175817873
Sida alba, photographed by Nicola van Berkel
fig. e Nicola van Berkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15164431
Sida alba, photographed by Matthew Fainman
fig. f Matthew Fainman, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 125167664
Sida alba, photographed by Dave Richardson
fig. g Dave Richardson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190095831
Sida alba, photographed by Manuel R Popp
fig. h Manuel R Popp, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175817823

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 37 botanical countries

Regions where Sida alba is native: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Cape Verde, Congo, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Gambia, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, India, Pakistan AlgeriaAngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaCongoDR CongoEgyptEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaFree StateGambiaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.KenyaKwaZulu-NatalLesothoMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweSaudi ArabiaYemenIndiaPakistan Cape Verde
Native distribution of Sida alba, 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
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Angola ANG
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Cape Verde CVI
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Egypt EGY
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Free State OFS
Gambia GAM
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Lesotho LES
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Saudi Arabia SAU ASIA-TEMPERATE
Yemen YEM
India IND ASIA-TROPICAL
Pakistan PAK

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 3 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.

  • Malvinda alba (L.) Medik.
  • Sida affinis J.A.Schmidt
  • Sida spinosa var. sennaarensis Vis.

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.