Rubiaceae
Geophila

Geophila repens (L.) I.M.Johnst.

First published in Sargentia 8: 281 (1949)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Mexico to Tropical America. It is a perennial or subshrub and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome. It is used to treat unspecified medicinal disorders, as a medicine and for food.

Distribution

Native to:

Argentina Northeast, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Windward Is.

Synonyms

Homotypic Synonyms

Heterotypic Synonyms

Classification

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Publications

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
  • Aung, Y.L., Aung, M.H., Tan, Y. & Jin, X. (2025). An updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar. PhytoKeys 261: 135-364.
  • Beaman, J.H. & Anderson, C. (2004). The Plants of Mount Kinabalu 5: 1-609. Natural history publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
  • Berry, P.E., Yatskievych, K. & Holst, B.K. (eds.) in Steyermark, J., Berry, P.E., Holts, B.K. (eds). (2004). Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana 8: 1-874. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis.
  • Borhidi, A. (2006). Rubiáceas de México: 1-512. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest.
  • Borhidi, A. (2012). Rubiáceas de México, ed. 2: 1-608. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest.
  • Brundu, G. & Camarda, I. (2013). The Flora of Chad: a checklist and brief analysis. PhytoKeys 23: 1-18.
  • Brunel, J.F., Hiepo, P. & Scholz, H. (eds.) (1984). Flore Analytique du Togo Phanérogames: 1-751. GTZ, Eschborn.
  • Catarino, L., Martins, E.S., Diniz, M.A. & Pinto-Basto, M.F. (2006). Check-list da flora vascular do parque natural das Lagos de Cufada (Guiné-Bissau). Garcia de Orta, Série de Botânica 17: 97-141.
  • Crouch, N.R. & Edwards, R. (2010). First record of Geophila in Southern Africa. Bothalia 40: 70-71.
  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Delprete, P.G. & Cortés-B., R. (2006 publ. 2007). A synopsis of the Rubiaceae of the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, with a key to genera, and a preliminary species list. Revista de Biologia Neotropical 3: 13-96.
  • Delprete, P.G. (2010). Rubiaceae. Flora dos estados de Goiás e Tocantins 40: 1-1610. Universidade Federal de Goiás.
  • Delprete, P.G., Smith, L.B., Klein, R.M. (2005). Flora Ilustrada Catarinense 2: 349-842. Herbário "Barbosa Rodrigues", Atají, Brasil.
  • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola. Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Fischer, E., Rembold, K., Althof, A. & Obholzer, J. (2010). Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Kakamega forest, Western province, Kenya. Journal of East African Natural History 99: 129-226.
  • Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Hammel, B.E., Grayum, M.H., Herrera, C. & Zamora, N. (eds.) (2014). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 7: 1-840. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
  • Harris, D.J. (2002). The vascular plants of the Dzanga-Sangha Reserve, Central African Republic: 1-274. National Botanic Garden (Belgium), Meise.
  • Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
  • Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.
  • Jongkind, C. (2014). Fauna & Flora of Liberia, flowering plant species list www.liberianfaunaflora.org.
  • Mendoza, H., Ramirez P., B.R. & Jimenez, L.C. (2004). Rubiaceae de Colombia: guia ilustrada de generos: 1-351. Instituto de Investigacion de Recursos Biologicos Alexander von Humboldt, Bogota, Colombia.
  • Morat, P. & Veillon, J.-M. (1985). Contributions à la conaissance de la végétation et de la flore de Wallis et Futuna. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Section B, Adansonia 7: 259-329.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • Sant'Ana Melhem, T., das Graças Lapa Wanderley, M., Ehlin Martins, S., Jung-Mendaçolli, S.L., Shepherd, G.J. & Kirizawa, M. (eds.) (2007). Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo 5: 1-476. Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo.
  • Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.
  • Smith, A.C. (1988). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 4: 1-377. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.
  • Sosef, M.S.M. & al. (2006). Check-list des plantes vasculaires du Gabon. Scripta Botanica Belgica 35: 1-438.
  • Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mt. Mulanje, Malawi. Scripta Botanica Belgica 34: 1-199.
  • Sykes, W.R. (1970). Contributions to the flora of Niue. Bulletin, New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research 200: 1-321.
  • Sykes, W.R. (2016). Flora of the Cook Islands: 1-973. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.
  • Thiombiano, A., Schmidt, M., Dressler, S., Ouédraogo, A., Hahn, K. & Zizka, G. (2012). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Burkina Faso. Boissiera 65: 1-391.
  • Timberlake, J.R., Bayliss, J., Alves, T., Francisco, J., Harris, T., Nangoma, D. & de Sousa, C. (2009). Biodiversity and Conservation of Mchese Mountain, Malawi. Report produced under the Darwin Initiative Award 15/036: 1-71. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Walters, G., Dauby, G., Stévart, T., Dessein, S., Niangadouma, R. & Lachenaud, O. (2011). Novitates Gabonenses 80. Additions and corrections to the flora of Gabon. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 68: 423-442.
  • Welsh, S.L. (1998). Flora Societensis: 1-420. E.P.S. Inc. Utah.
  • Wu, Z., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D. (eds.) (2011). Flora of China 19: 1-884. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
  • Zuloaga, F.O. & Zanotti, C.A. (eds.) (2022). Flora Argentina. Flora vascular de la República Argentina 19(3): 1-384. INTA, IMBIV & IBODA.

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • Brenan in Mem N.Y Bot Gard 8: 453 (1954)
  • in Sargentia 8: 281 (1949)

Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

  • Kew Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) https://www.kew.org/science/data-and-resources/tools-and-services/medicinal-plant-names-services in The State of the World’s Plants Report–2016. (2016). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew https://stateoftheworldsplants.or

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Davidse, G. & al. (eds.) (2012). Flora Mesoamericana 4(2): 1-533. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.
  • Delprete, P.G., Smith, L.B., Klein, R.M. (2005). Flora Ilustrada Catarinense 2: 349-842. Herbário "Barbosa Rodrigues", Atají, Brasil.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Ruhsam, M. (2005). Survey of all the Rubiaceae specimens at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Zuloaga, F.O. & Zanotti, C.A. (eds.) (2022). Flora Argentina. Flora vascular de la República Argentina 19(3): 1-384. INTA, IMBIV & IBODA.

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • A.D.Q. Agnew, Upland Kenya Wild Flowers p. 407 (1974).
  • Brenan in Mem. N.Y. Bot. Gard. 8: 453 (1954).
  • E. Lind & A. Tallantire, Some Common Flowering Plants of Uganda, ed. 2: 164, fig. 106 (1972).
  • Hepper in Flora of West Tropical Africa, ed. 2, 2: 205 (1963).
  • I. M. Johnston in Sargentia 8: 281, 282 (1949).
  • Steyerm. in Mem. N.Y. Bot. Gard. 23: 395 (1972).
  • Verdc. in Kew Bulletin 28: 321, fig. 1/2 A–C (1973).

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. https://prota4u.org/database/
  • Ulian, T., Sacandé, M., Hudson, A., & Mattana, E. (2017). Conservation of indigenous plants to support community livelihoods: the MGU–Useful Plants Project. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 60:668-683.
  • Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Other Data

Other Kew resources that provide information on this taxon:

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of West Tropical Africa

    • Flora of West Tropical Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Neotropikey

    • Milliken, W., Klitgard, B. and Baracat, A. (2009 onwards), Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics.
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants of Boyacá Project

    • ColPlantA database
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0