Spermacoce prostrataAubl.

prostrate false buttonweed

WFO wfo-0000312676 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

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.

Spermacoce prostrata, photographed by portioid
fig. a portioid, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-04-26 / obs. 69513023
Spermacoce prostrata, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. b Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182533834
Spermacoce prostrata, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. c Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 153830105
Spermacoce prostrata, photographed by Alex Abair
fig. d Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 49099879
Spermacoce prostrata, photographed by Marcus Tamura
fig. e Marcus Tamura, CC0 1.0 / obs. 112387778
Spermacoce prostrata, photographed by Kevin Faccenda
fig. f Kevin Faccenda, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 182533837
Spermacoce prostrata, photographed by Matt Berger
fig. g Matt Berger, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 153830109
Spermacoce prostrata, photographed by Alex Abair
fig. h Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 49099888

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 38 botanical countries

Regions where Spermacoce prostrata is native: Florida, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Central American Pacific Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Uruguay, Venezuela, Windward Is. FloridaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralCentral American Pacific Is.ColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoUruguayVenezuela BahamasLeeward Is.Turks-Caicos Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Spermacoce prostrata, 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
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bahamas BAH
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Central American Pacific Is. CPI
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Turks-Caicos Is. TCI
Uruguay URU
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Florida FLA NORTHERN AMERICA
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
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 25 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 domingensis Griseb.
  • Borreria gracilis (Ruiz & Pav.) F.Dietr.
  • Borreria heterophylla Brandegee
  • Borreria micrantha Torr. & A.Gray
  • Borreria microphylla DC.
  • Borreria ocymoides f. bisepala (Bremek.) Steyerm.
  • Borreria ocymoides f. tenuis Chodat & Hassl.
  • Borreria ocymoides var. bisepala Bremek.
  • Borreria ocymoides var. minima Chodat & Hassl.
  • Borreria parviflora G.Mey.
  • Borreria patula M.Martens & Galeotti
  • Borreria prostrata (Aubl.) Miq.
  • Borreria ramisparsa DC.
  • Borreria tampicana DC.
  • Mitracarpus puberulus Benth.
  • Spermacoce cephalophora Rusby
  • Spermacoce domingensis (Griseb.) C.Wright
  • Spermacoce gracilis Ruiz & Pav.
  • Spermacoce heterophylla (Brandegee) Govaerts
  • Spermacoce parviflora (G.Mey.) A.Gray
  • Spermacoce parviflora Hemsl.
  • Spermacoce patula (M.Martens & Galeotti) Hemsl.
  • Spermacoce ramisparsa (DC.) Hiern
  • Spermacoce ramisparsa Pohl ex DC.

and 1 more.

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.