Vangueria madagascariensisJ.F.Gmel.

smooth-leaved wild-medlarvoa vanga

WFO wfo-0000331269 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Vangueria madagascariensis, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. a Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2021-06-11 / obs. 140746065
Vangueria madagascariensis, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. b Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 140497365
Vangueria madagascariensis, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. c Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 64530394
Vangueria madagascariensis, photographed by Andrew Deacon
fig. d Andrew Deacon, CC0 1.0 / obs. 163952159
Vangueria madagascariensis, photographed by Romer N. Rabarijaona
fig. e Romer N. Rabarijaona, CC0 1.0 / obs. 5417886
Vangueria madagascariensis, photographed by botanygirl
fig. f botanygirl, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 13575720
Vangueria madagascariensis, photographed by Manuel R Popp
fig. g Manuel R Popp, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 175049705
Vangueria madagascariensis, photographed by Manuel R Popp
fig. h Manuel R Popp, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 170217601

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Native range 22 botanical countries

Regions where Vangueria madagascariensis is native: Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, DR Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda AngolaBeninCameroonCentral African RepublicChadDR CongoEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaGhanaKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMadagascarMalawiMaliMozambiqueNigeriaNorthern ProvincesSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUganda Comoros
Native distribution of Vangueria madagascariensis, 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
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
Comoros COM
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Ghana GHA
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Madagascar MDG
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA

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 18 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.

  • Canthium edule (Vahl) Baill.
  • Canthium maleolens Chiov.
  • Dondisia fetida Hassk.
  • Dondisia foetida Hassk.
  • Dondisia foetida Hasskl.
  • Vangueria abyssinica A.Rich.
  • Vangueria acutiloba Robyns
  • Vangueria commersonii Jacq.
  • Vangueria cymosa C.F.Gaertn.
  • Vangueria edulis Vahl
  • Vangueria edulis Miq.
  • Vangueria edulis Lam.
  • Vangueria floribunda Robyns
  • Vangueria madagascariensis subsp. madagascariensis
  • Vangueria robynsii Tennant
  • Vangueria venosa Hochst. ex A.Rich.
  • Vavanga chinensis Rohr
  • Vavanga edulis Vahl

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.