Flowering plants of Somalia: families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae (671 species)

In short

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the international open database of species records, held records of 671 flowering plant (families Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae) species with Somalia as the country, in 27 families (GBIF occurrence search, Somalia).

The largest families by number of species on record are (GBIF Backbone Taxonomy):

• Asteraceae: 234
• Convolvulaceae: 115
• Burseraceae: 70
• Capparaceae: 44
• Brassicaceae: 38
• Caryophyllaceae: 36
• Combretaceae: 27
• Cleomaceae: 23
• Boraginaceae: 22
• Celastraceae: 19

Most often recorded

The species with the most GBIF records from Somalia are Abyssinian myrrh (276), balm-of-Gilead (156), Commiphora chiovendana (79), Commiphora gurreh (77), African myrrh (73), Grey-Leaved Bittertea (71) (GBIF occurrence search, Somalia).

144 of the 671 species have a single record from Somalia (same source).

Named after Somali places

29 species on this list carry Somalia or a Somali place in their scientific name, for example Bidens somaliensis, Dicoma somalense, Dicoma somalensis, Emilia somalensis, Erythroseris somalensis, Gutenbergia somalensis, Helichrysum erigavoanum, Helichrysum ogadense, Helichrysum somalense, Launaea benadirensis, Pentzia somalensis, Pluchea somaliensis, Pulicaria migiurtinorum, Pulicaria somalensis, Cystostemon somaliensis, Brassica somalensis, Erucastrum erigavicum, Farsetia somalensis, Cadaba somalensis, Maerua somalensis (GBIF Backbone Taxonomy).

Species under threat

The IUCN Red List places these species in a threatened category (GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category):

• Endangered: Aspilia macrorrhiza, Elaeodendron aquifolium, Commiphora alata, Commiphora arenaria, Commiphora chaetocarpa, Commiphora gardoensis, Commiphora stellatopubescens, Commiphora sulcata, Stictocardia macalusoi (IUCN via GBIF)
• Vulnerable: Emilia bellioides, Kleinia scottii, Farsetia somalensis, Boscia mazzocchii, Lanceleaf Buttonwood, Commiphora acuminata, Commiphora alaticaulis, Commiphora cyclophylla, Commiphora erlangeriana, Commiphora guidottii, Commiphora lobatospathulata, Commiphora playfairii, Convolvulus jefferyi, Ipomoea paolii (IUCN via GBIF)

All plant lists: Plants of Somalia.

How to read this list

A species is on this list when GBIF holds at least one record of it from Somalia. A record can be a museum specimen more than a century old, a sighting shared by an observer, or a specimen cited in a scientific paper. Some records are old and a few may be misidentified, so this is a list of records, not of what lives in Somalia today. Names follow the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, which can lag behind the newest research.

Red List summary

• Critically Endangered (CR): 0
• Endangered (EN): 9
• Vulnerable (VU): 14
• Near Threatened (NT): 15
• Least Concern (LC): 101
• Data Deficient (DD): 6
• Not Evaluated (NE): 526

Categories are from the IUCN Red List as published through GBIF (GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category).

Largest families

• Asteraceae: 234 species
• Convolvulaceae: 115 species
• Burseraceae: 70 species
• Capparaceae: 44 species
• Brassicaceae: 38 species
• Caryophyllaceae: 36 species
• Combretaceae: 27 species
• Cleomaceae: 23 species
• Boraginaceae: 22 species
• Celastraceae: 19 species

Full list (671 species)

Each name links to its Calankii page where one exists, otherwise to its GBIF species page. "Records in Somalia" is the number of GBIF occurrence records with Somalia as the country, counted on 12 November 2026 (GBIF occurrence search, Somalia). The same rows, with Wikidata ids and more columns, are in the open data file species-recorded-in-somalia.csv.

This list is in 5 parts: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5

This list is in 5 parts: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5

Sources

• GBIF occurrence search, country Somalia
• GBIF Backbone Taxonomy
• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species