Taxon: Boerhavia erecta L.

Summary

Genus:

Boerhavia

Family:

Nyctaginaceae

Tribe:

Nyctagineae

Nomen number:

316875

Place of publication:

Sp. pl. 1:3. 1753

Typification:

View in Linnean Typification Project

Verified:

04/05/2004 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

1 (1 active, 1 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Aubréville, A. et al., eds. 1960-. Flore du Cambodge du Laos et du Viet-Nam.
Balick, M. J. et al. 2000. Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize, with common names and uses. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 85
Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. 1993. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45
Burger, W. C., ed. 1971-. Flora costaricensis.
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Gómez-Pompa, A. & V. Sosa, eds. 1978-. Flora de Veracruz.
Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Liogier, H. A. 1984-. Descriptive flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands.
Proctor, G. R. 1984. Flora of the Cayman Islands. Kew Bulletin Additional Series XI.
Smitinand, T. & K. Larsen, eds. 1970-. Flora of Thailand.
Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	seq	Citation
English	erect spiderling		1	FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Chinese	zhi li huang xi xin	直立黄细心	2	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
Portuguese (Brazil)	falso-pega-pinto		2	Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Kenya			Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania			Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Uganda			Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Somalia			Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Malawi			Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Mozambique			Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zambia			Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zimbabwe			Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Namibia			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Eastern Cape		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Free State		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Gauteng		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	KwaZulu-Natal		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Limpopo		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Mpumalanga		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Northern Cape		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Ghana
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Hainan Sheng		Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Thailand			Smitinand, T. & K. Larsen, eds. 1970-. Flora of Thailand.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Indonesia			Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Malaysia			Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Singapore			Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Papuasia	Papua New Guinea			Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Missouri		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Oklahoma		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Nuevo León
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	San Luis Potosí
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sinaloa
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sonora
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Tamaulipas
1	Native	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	New Mexico		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	Texas		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Alabama		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Arkansas		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Florida		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Georgia		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Louisiana		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Maryland		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Mississippi		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	North Carolina		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	South Carolina		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Tennessee		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Chiapas
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Guerrero
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Jalisco
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Michoacán de Ocampo
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Nayarit
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Oaxaca
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Puebla
1	Native	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	Arizona		FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Bahamas			Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Barbados			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Bermuda
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cayman Islands			Proctor, G. R. 1984. Flora of the Cayman Islands. Kew Bulletin Additional Series XI.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba			León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominica			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominican Republic
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Grenada			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Guadeloupe			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Haiti
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Jamaica			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Martinique			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Montserrat			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Netherlands Antilles
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	St. Kitts and Nevis			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	St. Lucia			Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico		Liogier, H. A. 1984-. Descriptive flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Virgin Islands, U.S.		Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
1	Native	Southern America	Caribbean	Virgin Islands (British)			Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Belize			Balick, M. J. et al. 2000. Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize, with common names and uses. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 85
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Costa Rica			Burger, W. C., ed. 1971-. Flora costaricensis.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Guatemala
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Honduras
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Nicaragua			Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Panama			Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Bolivia
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Ecuador
1	Native	Southern America	Western South America	Peru			Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. 1993. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45
4	Naturalized					widely natzd.
6	Other					exact native range obscure

Native
Africa

NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Somalia
EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ghana
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Namibia, South Africa [Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape]

Asia-Temperate

CHINA: China [Hainan Sheng]

Asia-Tropical

PAPUASIA: Papua New Guinea
INDO-CHINA: Thailand
MALESIA: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore

Northern America

NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Missouri, Oklahoma]
SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [New Mexico, Texas]
SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Arizona]
NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán de Ocampo, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Netherlands Antilles, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Montserrat, Martinique, United States [Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, U.S.], Virgin Islands (British)
CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

Naturalized (widely natzd.)
Other (exact native range obscure)

Reference(s)

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. et al. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78:1-581.
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Balick, M. J. et al. 2000. Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize, with common names and uses. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 85
Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. 1993. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45
Burger, W. C., ed. 1971-. Flora costaricensis.
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Howard, R. 1974-1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Liogier, H. A. 1984-. Descriptive flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands.
Proctor, G. R. 1984. Flora of the Cayman Islands. Kew Bulletin Additional Series XI.
Smitinand, T. & K. Larsen, eds. 1970-. Flora of Thailand.
Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Weed	seed contaminant	potential	Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=316875. Accessed 12 May 2026.