Wolffiella welwitschii(Hegelm.) Monod

pond bogmat

WFO wfo-0000334490 Accepted WFO 2026-06 6 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–f · 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.

Wolffiella welwitschii, photographed by National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project
fig. a National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-08-06 / obs. 163487432
Wolffiella welwitschii, photographed by National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project
fig. b National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 163487436
Wolffiella welwitschii, photographed by Robert Taylor
fig. c Robert Taylor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 94584563
Wolffiella welwitschii, photographed by Robert Taylor
fig. d Robert Taylor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 94584581
Wolffiella welwitschii, photographed by Robert Taylor
fig. e Robert Taylor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 94584291
Wolffiella welwitschii, photographed by Robert Taylor
fig. f Robert Taylor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 94584297

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 41 botanical countries

Regions where Wolffiella welwitschii is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Chad, DR Congo, Ghana, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mexico Southeast, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Venezuela, Windward Is. AngolaBeninBotswanaChadDR CongoGhanaKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMalawiMaliMozambiqueNigeriaRwandaSenegalSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabweMexico SoutheastBoliviaBrazil NortheastBrazil West-CentralColombiaCosta RicaCubaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiJamaicaPeruPuerto RicoSurinameVenezuela Leeward Is.Windward Is.
Native distribution of Wolffiella welwitschii, 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
Botswana BOT
Chad CHA
DR Congo ZAI
Ghana GHA
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Bolivia BOL SOUTHERN AMERICA
Brazil Northeast BZE
Brazil West-Central BZC
Colombia CLM
Costa Rica COS
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
Ecuador ECU
El Salvador ELS
French Guiana FRG
Guatemala GUA
Guyana GUY
Haiti HAI
Jamaica JAM
Leeward Is. LEE
Peru PER
Puerto Rico PUE
Suriname SUR
Venezuela VEN
Windward Is. WIN
Mexico Southeast MXT NORTHERN AMERICA

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 3 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.

  • Wolffia conguensis Welw. ex Trimen
  • Wolffia welwitschii Hegelm.
  • Wolffiopsis welwitschii (Hegelm.) Hartog & Plas

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.