Within the UAE, this species has been recorded once only from the Ru'us al-Jibal (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2011). Globally, the native range of this species extends from western Europe to Macaronesia, the Mediterranean, Ethiopia and Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species has been recorded from the UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003) but without locality, and no other references to the species in the UAE have been found in the literature. The draft Red Data Book for the UAE (MEW 2010) considers the record to be unconfirmed. Globally, the species occurs across northern Africa to the Sinai and the eastern Mediterranean, and south into Saudi Arabia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Abdel Khalik (2002) gives the distribution as Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Yemen, Israel, Chad and North Africa (Egypt to Morocco), excluding the UAE.

Jongbloed et al. (2003) only had a single record of this species for the UAE, from Wadi Hayl (Fujairah). The species has recently been reported from Wadi Ghalilah, Ra's al-Khaimah (Shahid 2017). Outside the UAE, its native range is extended from eastern Egypt to Somalia, through the Arabian Peninsula, to northwest India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).

A detailed distribution for this species within the UAE is currently lacking. The draft UAE Red Data Book states that this species is known from an unconfirmed record in the UAE (MEW 2010). G.R. Feulner (pers. comm. 2019) considers the species to be absent from the UAE, however S. Ghazanfar (pers. comm. 2019) reported that a specimen collected in the UAE is held at RBG Kew. The native range of this species is the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online gives the range as the Gulf States (Qatar, UAE and Oman), however, Akhani et al. (2013) give the distribution as from Afghanistan, western Pakistan and southeastern Iran (Sistan-o Baluchestan Province).

Within the UAE, it is restricted to the Ru'us al-Jibal (Jongbloed et al. 2003), where it is found at all elevations from 250 m up to at least 1,400 m (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2011). The known EOO and AOO are highly restricted, very much less than 50 km² in each case. Globally, the species ranges from Caucasus to the western Himalayas (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, it is suggested that Kohautia retrorsa may actually refer to Kohautia caespitosa (Jongbloed et al. 2003). K. caespitosa is thought to occur in the southern Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Globally, this species occurs from the Arabian Peninsula (UAE, Yemen) through to northwest India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Feulner (2011) reported this species from two localities in the Ru'us al-Jibal, at elevations of c. 250 and 800 m, both in Oman but within a few kilometres of the UAE (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2020). M. Jongbloed (pers. comm. 2019) mentions one record from Ras Al Khaimah; it is not known if this record is distinct from the foregoing, and/or occurs within the Ru'us al-Jibal. The global range of this species is given as from Egypt to Israel, Palestine and Jordan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

In the UAE, the species occurs from Hatta southwards in the Hajar Mountains (south of Wilayat Mahdhah; Feulner 2014) and also occurs on Jebel Hafeet (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Jongbloed et al. (2003) comment that the species was first recorded from the UAE area from Jebel Qatar (in Oman) near Al Ain in 1983, but spread along the mountains despite attempts at eradication because of its toxicity to camels. Feulner (2014) comments that the species is perhaps a recently arrived species. The distribution is expanding in the UAE, and it has been recorded from Ajmaan and from Madam (recorded in 1989). Plants of the World Online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019) gives the native range of the species as Oman and Iran.

This species has been recorded from Wadi Bih (Böer and Chaudhary 1999) within the Ru'us al-Jibal in the UAE. However, this record needs to be confirmed (MEW 2010). Globally, this species occurs from Egypt and Tanzania to the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, this species was considered to be known only from a record by A.R. Western, as the synonym Indigofera leptocarpa Hochst. & Steud. ex Balf.f., cited in Jongbloed et al. (2003; it was presumed that this record was based on Western (1989), however the species is not listed in that book). The locality of the record(s) is not known. The species was recently rediscovered at a single site in Fujairah Emirate (i.d. confirmation, B. Schrire and G.P. Lewis); a small population found on a hill on the western edge of Fujairah city (D. Aplin pers. comm. 2020). Globally, the native range of this species include the Sahara and northern Africa, in addition to Namibia, South Africa, Sudan, Socotra, and the Arabian Peninsula (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Records in the Arabian Peninsula include Oman, Yemen, and KSA.