Achyranthes porphyrostachya

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Caryophyllales
Classification System: APG IV Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Diaphoretickes Cladus: CAM Cladus: Archaeplastida Regnum: Plantae Cladus: Angiosperms Cladus: Mesangiospermae Cladus: Eudicota Cladus: Core eudicots Ordo: Caryophyllales

Achyranthes porphyrostachya Wall. ex Moq. in DC., Prodr. 13(2): 316 (1849), (as “porphyristachya”)

Lectotype (designated by Sukhorukov et al., 2024): Myanmar. “Tong Dong” [“towards the Hills” = on the way from Sagaing to Shan Hills], 23 November 1826, N. Wallich in Herb. Wallich 6925/841. K K000848076; possible Isolectotypes: G-DC, E E00317548. Other Syntype: Myanmar. “Tong Dong” [Thone Taung], 24 November 1826, N. Wallich in Herb. Wallich 6925/841. K001126247!.

Homotypic
- Achyranthes aspera var. porphyrostachya (Wall. ex Moq.) Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 4(12): 730 (1885).
Heterotypic
- Achyranthes robusta C.H.Wright, Fl. Cap. (Harvey) 5(1.2): 428 (1901).
  - Lectotype (designated by Sukhorukov et al., 2024): South Africa, [KwaZulu-]Natal, near Durban, 100 ft, [without date] [Wood] 7202. K K000243729.
- Achyranthes aspera var. procera Fiori, Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 19: 437 (1912).
  - Holotype: [Ethiopia, Tigray Region] in vallibus juxta fruticeta 4–8 pedalis prope Adoa [Adwa], 5 November 1838, Schimper 1234 [Iter Abyssinicum, ser. 2 (1842)]. FI FI000824; Isotypes: BM, BR BR0000008356987, FI FI-WEBB154842, K, L L1673915, M M0241518.
- Achyranthes aspera f. suffruticosa Fiori, Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 19: 438 (1912).
  - Lectotype (designated by Sukhorukov et al., 2024): Eritrea, [Dek’emhare] Hamasen, Ghinda – Baresa, 960 m a.s.l., 26 January 1909, A. Fiori 52. FT FT001025; Isolectotypes FT001026, FI.
- Achyranthes aspera f. robustiformis Suess., Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml. München 1: 70 (1951).
  - Lectotype (designated by Townsend 1985): Tanganyika area [Tanzania], Ngorongoro crater, 5000 ft, 9 April 1941, P.R.O. Bally 2273. K.

Misapplied names
- Achyranthes aspera auct. in herb. div.
- Achyranthes aspera var. pubescens auct.: Townsend (1985, 1993b, 1988, 2000), Audru et al. (1994), Boulos (1995), Miller (1996); Wood (1997), Germishuizen and Meyer (2003), Mapaura et al. (2004), Setshogo (2005), Gibreel and Darbyshire (2015), Odorico et al. (2022), Hassan et al. (2023).
- Achyranthes aspera f. fruticosa auct. in herb. div.
- Achyranthes aspera var. late-ovata auct. in herb. K.
- Achyranthes aspera var. pinguispicata Clarke, nom. nud. in herb. K.

Native distribution areas:

Africa
- Northern Africa
  - Egypt
- Macaronesia
  - Cape Verde
- West Tropical Africa
  - Benin, Mali, Senegal
- West-Central Tropical Africa
  - Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Rwanda
- Northeast Tropical Africa
  - Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan
- East Tropical Africa
  - Tanzania, Uganda
- South Tropical Africa
  - Angola, Malawi, MozambiqueZambia, Zimbabwe
- Southern Africa
  - Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa
Asia-Temperate
- Arabian Peninsula
  - Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen.
- China
  - China South-Central
Asia-Tropical
- Indian Subcontinent
  - Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, West Himalaya
- Indo-China
  - Andaman Is., Myanmar

Moquin-Tandon, A. 1849. Amarantaceae. In: De Candolle, A.P. (ed.): Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis 13(2): 231–424. Masson, Paris. BHL. Reference page.

Sukhorukov, A.P., Kushunina, M., Nilova, M.V., Baider, C. & Sennikov, A.N. 2024. Africa and Arabia encompass a much greater species diversity in the Achyranthes aspera aggregate (Amaranthaceae, achyranthoid clade): Evidence from morphological and chorological data. PhytoKeys 250: 21–94. DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.250.136139, BHL Reference page.

Govaerts, R. et al. 2025. Achyranthes porphyrostachya in Kew Science Plants of the World Online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2025 Nov. 27. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2025. Achyranthes porphyristachya. Published online. Accessed: Nov. 27 2025. Reference page.