Thalia geniculataL.

bent alligator-flag

WFO wfo-0000570363 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Thalia geniculata, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. a Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-01 / obs. 193385507
Thalia geniculata, photographed by Arthur Windsor
fig. b Arthur Windsor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195567220
Thalia geniculata, photographed by Arthur Windsor
fig. c Arthur Windsor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195564324
Thalia geniculata, photographed by Claire Herzog
fig. d Claire Herzog, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 191887689
Thalia geniculata, photographed by Frank Thomas Sautter
fig. e Frank Thomas Sautter, CC0 1.0 / obs. 189912166
Thalia geniculata, photographed by Paul Asman
fig. f Paul Asman, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 190893130
Thalia geniculata, photographed by Andrea Gantzer
fig. g Andrea Gantzer, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 188373666
Thalia geniculata, photographed by Brandon Corder
fig. h Brandon Corder, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 173494470

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 60 botanical countries

Regions where Thalia geniculata is native: Angola, Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Florida, Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela AngolaBeninBurkinaCameroonCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEquatorial GuineaEthiopiaGabonGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastLiberiaMaliNigeriaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTogoZambiaZimbabweFloridaLouisianaMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasJamaicaNicaraguaPanamáParaguayPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela Leeward Is.
Native distribution of Thalia geniculata, 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
Argentina Northwest AGW
Belize BLZ
Bolivia BOL
Brazil North BZN
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil South BZS
Brazil Southeast BZL
Brazil West-Central BZC
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
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Paraguay PAR
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Burkina BKN
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Ivory Coast IVO
Liberia LBR
Mali MLI
Nigeria NGA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Togo TOG
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Florida FLA NORTHERN AMERICA
Louisiana LOU
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
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.

Flowering 141 in flower of 168 examined

Peak flowering in Feb. Each bar is the share of Thalia geniculata observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 141 of 168 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 17 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.

  • Maranta arundinacea Billb. ex Beurl.
  • Maranta flexuosa C.Presl
  • Maranta geniculata Lam.
  • Renealmia erecta (Vell.) D.Dietr.
  • Renealmia geniculata (L.) D.Dietr.
  • Thalia altissima Klotzsch
  • Thalia angustifolia C.Wright ex Griseb.
  • Thalia caerulea Ridl.
  • Thalia dipetala Gagnep.
  • Thalia divaricata Chapm.
  • Thalia erecta Vell.
  • Thalia geniculata f. rheumoides Shuey
  • Thalia geniculata var. pubescens Körn.
  • Thalia geniculata var. villosa Körn. ex K.Schum.
  • Thalia schumanniana De Wild.
  • Thalia trichocalyx Gagnep.
  • Thalia welwitschii Ridl.

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.