Torilis africanaSpreng.

WFO wfo-0001068320 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Torilis africana, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. a Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-10-12 / obs. 172686704
Torilis africana, photographed by Jeremy Gilmore
fig. b Jeremy Gilmore, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 109108494
Torilis africana, photographed by Charleen Brunke
fig. c Charleen Brunke, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 101366145
Torilis africana, photographed by Caroline Voget
fig. d Caroline Voget, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 98070317
Torilis africana, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. e Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 98064349
Torilis africana, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. f Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 55330169
Torilis africana, photographed by Jeremy Gilmore
fig. g Jeremy Gilmore, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 54790456
Torilis africana, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. h Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 35507320

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 Torilis africana is native: Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madeira, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Spain, Türkiye-in-Europe AlgeriaAngolaCameroonCape ProvincesDjiboutiEritreaEthiopiaKenyaLibyaMalawiMoroccoMozambiqueSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTunisiaUgandaZimbabweAfghanistanCyprusEast Aegean Is.IranIraqLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusTranscaucasusTürkiyeBulgariaFranceGreeceItalyKritiNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalSpainTürkiye-in-Europe Canary Is.Madeira
Native distribution of Torilis africana, 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
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Angola ANG
Cameroon CMN
Canary Is. CNY
Cape Provinces CPP
Djibouti DJI
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Kenya KEN
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Malawi MLW
Morocco MOR
Mozambique MOZ
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Tunisia TUN
Uganda UGA
Zimbabwe ZIM
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Bulgaria BUL EUROPE
France FRA
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Spain SPA
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE

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 24 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.

  • Caucalis africana Thunb.
  • Caucalis heterophylla Guss.
  • Caucalis infesta subsp. heterophylla (Guss.) Ball
  • Caucalis infesta subsp. purpurea (Ten.) Arcang.
  • Caucalis purpurea Ten.
  • Caucalis torgesiana Hausskn.
  • Torilis africana var. heterophylla (Guss.) Reduron
  • Torilis arvensis subsp. heterophylla (Guss.) Thell.
  • Torilis arvensis subsp. purpurea (Ten.) Hayek
  • Torilis arvensis var. heterophylla (Guss.) Burnat
  • Torilis arvensis var. homoeomorpha (Chabert) Maire
  • Torilis arvensis var. purpurea (Ten.) Thell.
  • Torilis helvetica subsp. purpurea (Ten.) Nyman
  • Torilis helvetica var. pauciradiata Trautv.
  • Torilis helvetica var. purpurea (Ten.) DC.
  • Torilis heterophylla Guss.
  • Torilis heterophylla var. homoeomorpha Chabert
  • Torilis hillebrandii H.Wolff ex Engl.
  • Torilis infesta f. purpurea (Ten.) Batt.
  • Torilis infesta subsp. heterophylla (Guss.) Bonnier & Layens
  • Torilis infesta subsp. purpurea (Ten.) Arcang.
  • Torilis neglecta var. pauciradiata (Trautv.) Grossh.
  • Torilis purpurea Guss.
  • Torilis torgesiana (Hausskn.) Calest.

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.