Within the UAE, the only record comes from the northern mountains, however this needs to be confirmed (MEW 2010). It is possible that this species has been misidentified within the UAE, or that records mentioned by MEW (2010) actually occur within Oman. Globally, this species occurs in Oman and from Iran to Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online does not list the UAE as native country of occurrence for this species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, the species was listed for the UAE by Jongbloed et al. (2000). It is recorded from the Ru'us al-Jibal with two known records (Feulner 2011). Due to the lack of confirmed records, the species should be considered as 'uncertain' within the UAE (G.R. Feulner, in litt., MEW 2010). The species was recorded from the Musandam Mountains of northern Oman by Western (1991). The native range of this species encompasses the eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, it has been recorded from the Ru'us al-Jibal (MEW 2010). Western recorded the species from 10 km north of Masafi town (coll. R.A. Western, 1990, <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00086574"">RBGE Herbarium</a>, and also recorded by Karim). Globally, the native range of this species spans from the eastern Mediterranean through to central Asia and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, it is known from a single locality in Wadi Siji (Jongbloed et al. 2003, MEW 2010). However, it is unclear whether this record represents both this species and its relative, Corallocarpus schimperi, or if it relates only to C. schimperi. Globally, this species occurs from Senegal and Eritrea to Tanzania, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online do not list the UAE as a native country of occurrence for this species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species has so far been recorded from Jebel Mleiha (Sharjah Emirate; reported by T. Carlisle via S.A. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019), Wadi Helo (El-Keblawy et al. 2016; record with photo, no specimen; S.A. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019), Jebel Mleiha (S.A. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019), in the western Ru'us al-Jibal (single locality above Wadi Sha'am; Feulner 2011), and in the Masafi area (G.R. Feulner, in litt, MEW 2010), including from Wadi Siji in the Wadi Wurayah National Park buffer zone (Feulner 2016). This species appears to have a Mediterranean distribution, but with no records from Libya, Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean, except Turkey, where it is considered introduced (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019), although Marhold considers it native there. TavÅŸanoäŸlu et al. (2017) give the general distribution as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa, Spain (including the Baleares), France, Italy and Greece in Europe, and Turkey. However, there are mentions of this species from Saudi Arabia and from Iraq; the distribution is clearly not well understood, with the species having only just been reported from North Macedonia (Matevski et al. 2019).

This species is apparently known from few records in the UAE. Jongbloed et al. (2003) reported it from Sweihan (Al Ain region) and from Bu Hasa to the west in Abu Dhabi Emirate (Brown and Sakkir 2004). Fisher (2007) recorded the species on Ras Al Akhdhar, on Abu Dhabi Island, which is now entirely developed. Globally, the species is found from the western Sahara to the Arabian Peninsula (Mandaville 1990, Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Only one record of this species has been found, from Wadi Jeema, near Hatta town (<a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00066936"">RBGE Herbarium</a>, coll. J.N.B. Brown, 1986). There are numerous records from adjacent parts of Oman. It it endemic to the foothills and lower altitudes of the Western and Eastern Hajar mountains, extending to the Hatta hills in the UAE (S. Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019). Plants of the World Online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019) considers the species to be endemic to Oman.

Within the UAE, this species was recorded once from Al Ain (Jongbloed et al. 2003). More recently, it has been recorded from Wadi Hiluw (El-Keblawy 2011, El-Keblawy et al. 2016), Wadi Wurayah National Park (Wadi Wurayah dam area; Feulner 2016), and from a locality northeast of Sfai, Fujairah Emirate (D. Aplin pers. comm. 2019). There is also an unconfirmed record from Ras Al Khaimah (Khatt-Adhen Road; M. Tsaliki pers. comm. 2019). Globally, the native range of this species encompasses Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

There is a lack of information on the exact distribution of this species within the UAE, in great part due to taxonomic uncertainty surrounding its distinction from T. apollinea and T. purpurea. According to Ghazanfar (1992), Tephrosia persica should be treated as the same species as Tephrosia apollinea, whilst S. Ghazanfar (pers. comm. 2019) places T. persica as a synonym of T. purpurea. However, Plants of the World Online currently lists T. persica as a recognised species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The native range of this species is the Gulf States in the Arabian Peninsula and Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). The species distribution may extend to southwestern Pakistan (Baluchistan), an Oman-Makaran distribution (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2020).

This species is recorded for the UAE (e.g. Brown and Sakkir 2004). However, although Plants of the World Online shows the UAE as a native country of occurrence for this species, there doesn't appear to be references to Taverniera lappacea within the UAE in the published literature, aside for Brown and Sakkir (2004). Globally, the native range of this species encompasses northeast tropical Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).