Plants of Somalia: how many, which are found nowhere else, and every list

In short

Somalia's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), prepared for the Federal Republic of Somalia by the FAO's SWALIM project and published in 2016, gives two counts for the country's higher plants. One table, from the UN Environment Programme's Africa Environment Outlook 2 (2006), gives 3,028 species with 500 endemic, meaning found nowhere else. A second table, based on Flora of Somalia volume 3 and Conservation International, gives 3,165 species with 800 endemic, or 25% (Federal Republic of Somalia, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, Ullah and Gadain, 2016, p. 26). The plan notes that figures from different sources do not match, because data are missing (same source, p. 26).

On 12 November 2026 the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) held records of 3,898 plant species with Somalia as the country: 3,065 broad-leaved flowering plants, 702 monocots such as grasses and aloes, and 131 others, among them seaweeds, ferns, mosses and conifers (GBIF occurrence search, plants, Somalia). The GBIF count is higher than the national counts partly because it includes seaweeds and mosses and partly because names that scientists now treat as one species can appear more than once.

Part of a desert hotspot

Somalia lies in the Horn of Africa biodiversity hotspot, one of only two hotspots in the world that are entirely dry; the other is the Succulent Karoo of southwestern Africa. The hotspot holds an estimated 5,000 vascular plant species, more than half of them endemic (NBSAP 2016, pp. 17 to 18). Hundreds of new species have been found in Somalia in the last 20 years (same source).

Plants with a long history

The main vegetation is Acacia–Commiphora bushland. For thousands of years it supplied frankincense, from Boswellia sacra and Boswellia frereana, and myrrh, from Commiphora myrrha and Commiphora guidottii, to Africa and the Middle East as far as Egypt (NBSAP 2016, p. 18). The plan records that frankincense was once Somalia's fourth-largest source of foreign currency (NBSAP 2016, p. 24).

Somalia is home to the yeheb nut (Cordeauxia edulis), an evergreen shrub with yellow flowers and edible, very nourishing seeds (NBSAP 2016, p. 18). The IUCN Red List lists it as Endangered (GBIF, Cordeauxia edulis).

The Somali cyclamen (Cyclamen somalense) is known only from a small area in northern Somalia. Its discovery surprised botanists, because every other cyclamen grows in the Mediterranean region (NBSAP 2016, p. 18). It is listed as Critically Endangered (GBIF, Cyclamen somalense).

Largest plant families on record

By number of species with a GBIF record from Somalia, the largest plant families are (GBIF Backbone Taxonomy):

• Legumes, the pea family, including acacias (Fabaceae): 434
• Grasses (Poaceae): 367
• Daisies (Asteraceae): 234
• Spurges, including the cactus-like euphorbias (Euphorbiaceae): 203
• Acanthus family (Acanthaceae): 182
• Mallow family (Malvaceae): 178
• Dogbane family, including desert roses (Apocynaceae): 136
• Mint family (Lamiaceae): 127
• Morning glory family (Convolvulaceae): 115
• Sedges (Cyperaceae): 108

Who collected the records

GBIF holds 47,690 plant records from Somalia, and 41,296 of them are herbarium specimens: dried, pressed plants kept in collections. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, holds the largest share (26,081), followed by Uppsala University (4,373), home of the Flora of Somalia project, and the Missouri Botanical Garden (2,410). The University of Hargeisa has shared 935 records (GBIF occurrence search, plants, Somalia).

Red List

Of the 3,898 plant species on record, the IUCN Red List has assessed 973. It places 10 in Critically Endangered, 66 in Endangered and 64 in Vulnerable; 2,925 have not been assessed (GBIF species API, IUCN Red List category).

Every plant list

• Legumes of Somalia
• Grasses and sedges of Somalia
• Aloes, dragon trees, palms and other monocots
• Flowering plants, Acanthaceae to Aristolochiaceae
• Flowering plants, Asteraceae to Corbichoniaceae
• Flowering plants, Cordiaceae to Malpighiaceae
• Flowering plants, Malvaceae to Santalaceae
• Flowering plants, Sapindaceae to Zygophyllaceae
• Ferns, conifers, mosses and seaweeds
• All species in one file: species-recorded-in-somalia.csv

Related pages

• Somali montane xeric woodlands

Sources

• Federal Republic of Somalia, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 2016
• GBIF occurrence search, plants, Somalia
• GBIF Backbone Taxonomy