Voyria tenellaGuilding ex Hook.

Puerto Rico ghostplant

WFO wfo-0000422322 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Voyria tenella, photographed by Kai Squires
fig. a Kai Squires, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-09-29 / obs. 160576648
Voyria tenella, photographed by fern Wildtruth
fig. b fern Wildtruth, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 150970098
Voyria tenella, photographed by Andrea Caballero
fig. c Andrea Caballero, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 5036500
Voyria tenella, photographed by Eduardo Chacón Madrigal
fig. d Eduardo Chacón Madrigal, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 90848426
Voyria tenella, photographed by Erick Vélez Sánchez
fig. e Erick Vélez Sánchez, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 184873096
Voyria tenella, photographed by Erick Vélez Sánchez
fig. f Erick Vélez Sánchez, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 184758735
Voyria tenella, photographed by B. Phalan
fig. g B. Phalan, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 165510829
Voyria tenella, photographed by Guillaume Delaitre
fig. h Guillaume Delaitre, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 144797609

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 29 botanical countries

Regions where Voyria tenella is native: Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, 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, Leeward Is., Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is. Mexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestBelizeBoliviaBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SouthBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasNicaraguaPanamáPeruPuerto RicoSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela Leeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Voyria tenella, 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 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
Leeward Is. LEE
Nicaragua NIC
Panamá PAN
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Trinidad-Tobago TRT
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
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 31 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.

  • Biglandularia azurea H.Karst.
  • Leiphaimos azurea (H.Karst.) Gilg
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba (Griseb.) Urb.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. albissima Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. alboflava Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. coerulea Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. cremea Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. cyanea Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. cyanescens Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. flavescens Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. flavidula Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. glauca Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. nivea Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba f. striata Cif.
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba var. albida Urb. & Ekman
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba var. cumbrensis Urb. & Ekman
  • Leiphaimos brachyloba var. linearipetala Cif.
  • Leiphaimos disadenantha (Griseb.) Alain
  • Leiphaimos nuda (Splitg.) Miq.
  • Leiphaimos nuda Gilg
  • Leiphaimos nudus (Splitg.) Miq.
  • Leiphaimos portoricensis Britton
  • Leiphaimos simplex (Griseb.) Standl.
  • Leiphaimos simplex (Griseb.) Gilg

and 7 more.

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.