Stylosanthes fruticosa(Retz.) Alston

shrubby pencilflower

WFO wfo-0000176343 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Stylosanthes fruticosa, photographed by Andrew Hankey
fig. a Andrew Hankey, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2022-04-11 / obs. 187655880
Stylosanthes fruticosa, photographed by Manuel R Popp
fig. b Manuel R Popp, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175049404
Stylosanthes fruticosa, photographed by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
fig. c Antoinette Eyssell Knox, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 115516415
Stylosanthes fruticosa, photographed by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
fig. d Antoinette Eyssell Knox, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 114612790
Stylosanthes fruticosa, photographed by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
fig. e Antoinette Eyssell Knox, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15660414
Stylosanthes fruticosa, photographed by Nicola van Berkel
fig. f Nicola van Berkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15705970
Stylosanthes fruticosa, photographed by Dave Richardson
fig. g Dave Richardson, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190083786
Stylosanthes fruticosa, photographed by Manuel R Popp
fig. h Manuel R Popp, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 176261114

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 45 botanical countries

Regions where Stylosanthes fruticosa is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonChadCongoDR CongoEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweOmanSaudi ArabiaYemenIndiaMyanmarSri Lanka Cape Verde
Native distribution of Stylosanthes fruticosa, 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
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Verde CVI
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Oman OMA ASIA-TEMPERATE
Saudi Arabia SAU
Yemen YEM
India IND ASIA-TROPICAL
Myanmar MYA
Sri Lanka SRL

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 9 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.

  • Arachis fruticosa Retz.
  • Hedysarum hamatum Burm.f.
  • Stylosanthes aprica Span.
  • Stylosanthes bojeri Vogel
  • Stylosanthes flavicans Baker
  • Stylosanthes mucronata Willd.
  • Stylosanthes setosa Harv.
  • Stylosanthes suborbicularis Chiov.
  • Stylosanthes suborbiculata Chiov.

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.