Spermacoce ocymifoliaWilld.

slender buttonweed

WFO wfo-0000312620 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Spermacoce ocymifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. a Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-05-25 / obs. 200411858
Spermacoce ocymifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. b Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 185446624
Spermacoce ocymifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. c Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 164494718
Spermacoce ocymifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. d Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 106808152
Spermacoce ocymifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. e Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 72874356
Spermacoce ocymifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. f Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 62830900
Spermacoce ocymifolia, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. g Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 29302353
Spermacoce ocymifolia, photographed by Don Loarie
fig. h Don Loarie, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 203247086

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Native range 35 botanical countries

Regions where Spermacoce ocymifolia is native: Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Aruba, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Central American Pacific Is., Chile North, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. Mexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralCentral American Pacific Is.Chile NorthColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela ArubaCayman Is.Leeward Is.Netherlands AntillesWindward Is.
Native distribution of Spermacoce ocymifolia, 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
Aruba ARU SOUTHERN AMERICA
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Cayman Is. CAY
Central American Pacific Is. CPI
Chile North CLN
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Netherlands Antilles NLA
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Mexico Southeast MXT NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Southwest MXS

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 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.

  • Borreria alternans Bello
  • Borreria asperula DC.
  • Borreria ocymifolia (Willd.) Bacigalupo & E.L.Cabral
  • Borreria virgata Cham. & Schltdl.
  • Diodia ocymifolia (Willd.) Bremek.
  • Hemidiodia ocymifolia (Willd.) K.Schum.
  • Spermacoce alternans (Bello) Kuntze
  • Spermacoce asperula (DC.) Govaerts
  • Spermacoce caerulea Pohl ex DC.
  • Spermacoce elliptica Thunb.
  • Spermacoce longiflora D.Dietr.
  • Spermacoce longifolia Aubl. ex Miq.
  • Spermacoce longifolia L'Hér. ex DC.
  • Spermacoce longifolia f. glabrata Miq.
  • Spermacoce neovirgata Govaerts
  • Spermacoce nervata Mart. ex Colla
  • Spermacoce portoricensis Balb. ex DC.
  • Spermacoce virgata (Cham. & Schltdl.) Hemsl.

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. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol DIOC4. public domain. 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.