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Phyllanthus retusus; photograph Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SAVinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Phyllanthus retusus Dennst.

Phyllanthaceae · China South-Central, China Southeast +13

English names not checked: Wikidata's common names were not read for this page.

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Phyllanthus retusus, photograph Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhyllanthus retusus, photograph Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhyllanthus retusus, photograph Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhyllanthus retusus, photograph Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhyllanthus retusus, photograph Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsPhyllanthus retusus, photograph Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 12 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
11.8°C
Record low 8.6 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
32°C
Mar, Apr and May at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,793mm
7 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
23–44DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A rainy season, June to August, neither the cool nor the warm half of the year. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

About the genus · Phyllanthus

Phyllanthus is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750 to 1200. Phyllanthus has a remarkable diversity of growth forms including annual and perennial herbs, shrubs, climbers, floating aquatics, and pachycaulous succulents. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Phyllanthus", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a rainy season with no name: 70% of the median year's rain (2,055 mm of 2,740 mm) falls in June to August, whose mean temperature, 25.5 °C, is within half a degree of the year's, 25.2 °C, so it is neither the cooler nor the warmer part of the year. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: December to February.

Rain

2,740 mm in the median year at the habitat, 2,055 mm of it June to August. Wettest month July at 925 mm, driest month February at 1 mm; 2 months under 5 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,203 mm to 4,332 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,793 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,740 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 23 to 44 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 18, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 11.8 °C, the absolute minimum 8.6 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 40.8 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 16.9 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range 12.4 °C to 21.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 32.3 °C in April (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 11.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 53 to 72% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -41 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Phyllanthus retusus through the yearWarmest months March, April and May, mean daily high 32 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low 16.9 °C; 2,740 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.0°10°20°30°40°50°40.8° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER8.6° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050010001500mm rainDLI 23–44RH 53–72%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 152 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 24–3230 / 26–3332 / 28–3432 / 29–3532 / 28–3428 / 25–3127 / 23–2927 / 23–2928 / 25–2929 / 25–3129 / 24–3228 / 23–31
Night °C17 / 12–2218 / 14–2220 / 16–2422 / 19–2524 / 19–2723 / 19–2623 / 18–2522 / 18–2522 / 18–2521 / 17–2519 / 15–2418 / 13–22
Rain mm2 / 1–261 / 0–387 / 1–6920 / 1–16786 / 28–251508 / 84–1008925 / 110–1492622 / 125–1007351 / 151–483171 / 91–32539 / 16–2368 / 3–78
DLI35 / 31–3739 / 36–4143 / 40–4444 / 38–4641 / 33–4428 / 24–3323 / 18–3123 / 19–3129 / 26–3432 / 29–3432 / 28–3432 / 28–34
RH %54 / 47–6053 / 46–6055 / 45–6159 / 50–6562 / 56–6870 / 63–7872 / 66–8272 / 66–8169 / 65–7564 / 58–6957 / 51–6754 / 48–63
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 152 grid cells holding the 186 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1475:5081 (16.225, 74.075). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 8.6 °C, 1st-percentile night 11.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 40.8 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 152 distinct grid cells holding 186 of the 186 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1475:5081 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 16.00_74.375, lapse-corrected -41 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 615 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.

This species has no GBIF key of its own. Its records are GBIF's under the key of the name Kew's World Checklist holds as this plant: 5383065 (Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston, 958 records). No name was matched to GBIF; the keys are read from Kew's synonymy. How.

NativeChina South-Central, China Southeast, Tibet, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaya · introduced: Mauritius, Réunion · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker18.753, 73.346 · in the densest population, 191 records (51% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 373 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 186 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 212 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 2734 km away. 74 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 187 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 5383065 (Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston): Kew's file holds it as Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston (synonym under Phyllanthus retusus Dennst.); 958 records, from GBIF's download.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 373 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Phyllanthus retusus, photograph 1did not loadPhyllanthus retusus, photograph 2did not loadPhyllanthus retusus, photograph 3did not loadPhyllanthus retusus, photograph 4did not loadPhyllanthus retusus, photograph 5did not loadPhyllanthus retusus, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (5); Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Careya arborea Careya arborea Wild Guava Photo: CC BY, AshwinFicus arnottiana Ficus arnottiana Indian Rock Fig Photo: CC BY, rajesh rockyGrewia serrulata Grewia serrulata Malvaceae Photo: CC BY, Siddarth MachadoMemecylon umbellatum Memecylon umbellatum Melastomataceae Photo: CC BY, Aadi KulkarniStereospermum colais Stereospermum colais Bignoniaceae Photo: CC BY, Ravuri Krishna ChaitanyaCeropegia fantastica Ceropegia fantastica Apocynaceae Photo: CC0, author not stated

Other Phyllanthus 53 in the reference

Phyllanthus abnormis Phyllanthus abnormis Drummond's leaf-flower Photo: CC0, author not statedPhyllanthus acidus Phyllanthus acidus Otaheite gooseberry Photo: CC BY, Annika LindqvistPhyllanthus albiflorus Phyllanthus albiflorus Phyllanthaceae Photo: CC BY, Ethel AardvarkPhyllanthus amarus Phyllanthus amarus Carry me seed Photo: CC BY, Raja Sekhar ChimiralaPhyllanthus anamalayanus Phyllanthus anamalayanus Phyllanthaceae Photo: CC BY, Srinivasan KasinathanPhyllanthus angustifolius Phyllanthus angustifolius Foliage flower Photo: CC0, author not statedPhyllanthus arbuscula Phyllanthus arbuscula Phyllanthaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, User:BotBlnPhyllanthus assamicus Phyllanthus assamicus Phyllanthaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, VinayarajPhyllanthus buxifolius Phyllanthus buxifolius Phyllanthaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedPhyllanthus calycinus Phyllanthus calycinus Phyllanthaceae Photo: CC BY, Millie BradyPhyllanthus caroliniensis Phyllanthus caroliniensis Carolina leaf-flower Photo: CC BY, Christopher EvansPhyllanthus cernuus Phyllanthus cernuus Phyllanthaceae Photo: CC BY, Thomas Mesaglio all 54 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Breynia hyposauropus; Breynia microphylla var. angustifolia; Breynia patens; Breynia retusa; Breynia turbinata and 19 more. (WCVP, RBG Kew)

IPNIPOWOWikidata

The record

Family
Phyllanthaceae
Described by
Dennst.
Native to
China South-Central, China Southeast, Tibet +12
Wild records
373 in range · 212 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
Kew's names (WCVP) kew.names answeredas of 2026-06-04Kew's entry Phyllanthus retusus Dennst. (plant_name_id 154775), read from Kew's names file
GBIF species record gbif.species not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21this species has no GBIF key of its own; its records are read under GBIF's keys for the names Kew's file holds as this plant, never by a name matched; GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 958 records of GBIF's key 5383065, Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston (Kew's file holds it as Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston (synonym under Phyllanthus retusus Dennst.)): the GBIF download; 2 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (1 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 1 at a herbarium; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 16.00_74.375, lapse-corrected -41 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by Kew's IPNI identifier 354576-1, POWO 354576-1
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist taxon inat.taxon not asked
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 42 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…