Symphonia globuliferaL.f.

WFO wfo-0000438147 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 7 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 7 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.

Symphonia globulifera, photographed by Lena Struwe
fig. a Lena Struwe, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2019-03-12 / obs. 35532600
Symphonia globulifera, photographed by Vincent A. Vos
fig. b Vincent A. Vos, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 188849414
Symphonia globulifera, photographed by Lena Struwe
fig. c Lena Struwe, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 3844681
Symphonia globulifera, photographed by tlaloc27
fig. d tlaloc27, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 33549740
Symphonia globulifera, photographed by Eduardo Chacón Madrigal
fig. e Eduardo Chacón Madrigal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 201630600
Symphonia globulifera, photographed by Trevor Van Loon
fig. f Trevor Van Loon, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 177197951
Symphonia globulifera, photographed by alex2281
fig. g alex2281, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 170817674
Symphonia globulifera, photographed by tlaloc27
fig. h tlaloc27, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 33549748

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 Symphonia globulifera is native: Angola, Burundi, Cabinda, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. AngolaBurundiCabindaCameroonCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEquatorial GuineaGabonGhanaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastLiberiaNigeriaRwandaSierra LeoneTanzaniaUgandaZambiaMexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaEcuadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáPeruSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela Leeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Symphonia globulifera, 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
Belize BLZ SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Ecuador ECU
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Angola ANG AFRICA
Burundi BUR
Cabinda CAB
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Liberia LBR
Nigeria NGA
Rwanda RWA
Sierra Leone SIE
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Mexico Gulf MXG NORTHERN AMERICA
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 15 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.

  • Actinostigma speciosum Welw.
  • Aneuriscus aubletii C.Presl
  • Aneuriscus exserens C.Presl
  • Moronobea exserens Endl. ex Walp.
  • Moronobea globulifera (L.f.) Schltdl.
  • Symphonia esculenta Arruda ex Choisy
  • Symphonia gabonensis (Vesque) Pierre
  • Symphonia gabonensis var. macrantha Hutch. & Dalziel
  • Symphonia globulifera var. africana Vesque
  • Symphonia globulifera var. angustifolia Maguire
  • Symphonia globulifera var. gabonensis Vesque
  • Symphonia globulifera var. macoubea Vesque
  • Symphonia globulifera var. major Diels
  • Symphonia microphylla R.E.Schult.
  • Symphonia utilissima R.E.Schult.

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.