Uraria picta(Jacq.) Desv. ex DC.

WFO wfo-0000178000 Accepted WFO 2026-06 3 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–c · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 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.

Uraria picta, photographed by Sunday Berlioz KAKPO
fig. a Sunday Berlioz KAKPO, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-03-27 / obs. 33693285
Uraria picta, photographed by Sunday Berlioz KAKPO
fig. b Sunday Berlioz KAKPO, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 33677388
Uraria picta, photographed by Lucy Keith-Diagne
fig. c Lucy Keith-Diagne, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 108395543

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 52 botanical countries

Regions where Uraria picta is native: Angola, Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, China South-Central, China Southeast, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, Bismarck Archipelago, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Queensland AngolaBeninBurkinaCameroonCentral African RepublicChadCongoDR CongoEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastLiberiaMalawiMaliMozambiqueNigerNigeriaRwandaSenegalSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaChina South-CentralChina SoutheastTaiwanAssamBangladeshBismarck ArchipelagoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaMalayaMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPakistanPhilippinesSri LankaThailandVietnamWest HimalayaQueensland Nansei-shotoNicobar Is.
Native distribution of Uraria picta, 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
Burkina BKN
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Guinea-Bissau GNB
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Liberia LBR
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Bismarck Archipelago BIS
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Malaya MLY
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Nicobar Is. NCB
Pakistan PAK
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Queensland QLD AUSTRALASIA

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 8 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.

  • Desmodium pictum (Jacq.) Walp.
  • Doodia picta Roxb.
  • Hedysarum pictum Jacq.
  • Uraria aphrodisiaca Welw.
  • Uraria leucantha Zipp. ex Span.
  • Uraria leucantha Span.
  • Uraria linearis Hassk.
  • Uraria picta var. paucifoliata Domin

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.