Burmannia capitata is a plant species widespread across the West Indies and much of Latin America. It grows in wet areas at elevations less than 100 m. It has been reported from Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guyana, Honduras, southern Mexico (Campeche, Chiapas, Veracruz, Tabasco), Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela, and the United States (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Texas, Oklahoma)