Commelina benghalensis

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Commelinaceae

Herbs annual or perennial , sometimes woody at base . Stems with prominent nodes and internodes. Leaves alternate, distichous or spirally arranged , sessile or petiolate ; leaf sheath prominent, open or closed ; leaf blade simple , entire. Inflorescence usually of cincinni in panicles or solitary, sometimes shortened into heads , sometimes sessile with flowers fascicled, sometimes axillary and penetrating enveloping leaf sheath, rarely flowers solitary and terminal or axillary. Flowers bisexual , rarely unisexual , actinomorphic or zygomorphic. Sepals 3, free or connate only at base, often boat-shaped or carinate , sometimes galeate at apex. Petals (2 or) 3, free, sometimes connate and tubular at middle and free at 2 ends ( Cyanotis), sometimes clawed. Stamens 6, free, all or only 2 or 3 fertile ; filaments glabrous or torulose villous ; anthers parallel or slightly divergent, longitudinally dehiscent , rarely dehiscent by apical pores ; staminodes 1--3; antherodes 4-lobed and butterflylike, 3-sect, 2-lobed and dumbbell-shaped, or entire. Ovary 3-loculed, or reduced to 2-loculed; ovules 1 to several per locule, orthotropous . Fruit a loculicidal, 2- or 3-valved capsule, rarely baccate and indehiscent. Seeds few, large; endosperm copious ; hilum orbicular or linear .

About 40 genera and 650 species: mainly in tropical regions , fewer species in subtropical and temperate regions ; 15 genera (two introduced ) and 59 species (12 endemic, three introduced) in China.[1]

Genus Commelina

Herbs, perennial or annual . Roots thin or tuberous . Leaves 2-ranked or spirally arranged , not glaucous; blade sessile or petiolate . Inflorescences terminal , leaf-opposed; cymes 1--2, enclosed in spathes , proximal cyme several-flowered, distal cyme vestigial or with 1--several staminate flowers ; spathes often filled with mucilaginous liquid, margins distinct or basally connate ; bracteoles usually absent. Flowers bisexual and staminate , bilaterally symmetric ; pedicels well developed; sepals distinct or proximal 2 connate, unequal; petals distinct, proximal petal often different color than distal 2, smaller or subequal , distal 2 blue (occasionally lilac, lavender, yellow, peach, apricot, or white), clawed; stamens (5--) 6, proximal 3 fertile , medial different in form, size from others, distal (2--) 3 staminodial; filaments glabrous ; antherodes commonly 4--6-lobed; ovary 2--3-locular, ovules 1--2 per locule, 1-seriate. Capsules 2--3-valved, 2--3-locular. Seeds 1--2 per locule; hilum linear ; embryotega lateral . x = 11--15.

Species ca. 170: almost worldwide, mainly tropical .[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Citrus plantations, fields , yards , and other cultivated and disturbed sites; introduced [3].

Typically found in a lake at a mean distance from sea level of 630 meters (2,067 feet).[4]

Ecology: The species is a perennial or sometimes annual . A widespread weed often found in ditches, wet fields and places that are subjected to flooding, although it is not confined to wetlands. It can be found from near sea level up to 2,300 m. [5].

List of Habitats :

•     15     Artificial/Aquatic & Marine   
  
•     15.7     Artificial/Aquatic - Irrigated Land (includes irrigation channels )   
  
•     15.8     Artificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land   
  
•     15.9     Artificial/Aquatic - Canals and Drainage Channels, Ditches   
[more info]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Annual

Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 21-Jun-2005

Similar Species

Members of the genus Commelina

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 27 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. benghalensis (Benghal Dayflower) · C. caroliniana (Carolina Dayflower) · C. clavata (Willow Leaved Dayflower) · C. coelestis (Blue Spider Wort) · C. communis (Asiatic Dayflower) · C. communis var. communis (Asiatic Dayflower) · C. communis var. ludens (Asiatic Dayflower) · C. cyanea (Creeping Christian) · C. dianthifolia (Bird-Bill Dayflower) · C. dianthifolia var. dianthifolia (Birdbill Dayflower) · C. dianthifolia 'Electric Blue' (Birdbill Day Flower) · C. diffusa (Climbing Dayflower) · C. diffusa var. diffusa (Climbing Dayflower) · C. diffusa var. gigas (Climbing Dayflower) · C. erecta (White Mouth Dayflower) · C. erecta var. angustifolia (Whitemouth Dayflower) · C. erecta var. deamiana (Whitemouth Dayflower) · C. erecta var. erecta (Whitemouth Dayflower) · C. forskaolii (Rat's Ear) · C. gambiae (Gambian Dayflower) · C. nigritana (African Dayflower) · C. nigritana Benth. var. gambiae (C.B.Clarke) Brenan (Gambian Dayflower) · C. nigritana var. gambiae (Gambian Dayflower) · C. rufipes (Cojite Blanco) · C. rufipes var. glabrata (Cojite Blanco) · C. tuberosa (Commelina) · C. virginica (Virginia Day-Flower)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A dictionary of the plant names of the Philippine Islands / by Elmer D. Merrill. Manila: Bureau of Public Print., 1903. url p. 100, p. 14, p. 32, p. 40.
• A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon: containing descriptions of all the species of flowering plants indigenous to the island, and notes on their history, distribution, and uses: with an atlas of plates illustrating some of the more inte by Henry Trimen. London: Dulau, 1893-1931. url p. 300.
• A handbook of tropical gardening and planting, with special reference to Ceylon, by H. F. Macmillan. .. Colombo, H.W. Cave & co., 1914. url p. 591.
• A manual of Indian botany. London, Blackie & Son Ltd., 1920. url .
• A record of plants collected in Southern Rhodesia; arramged on Engler's system. Compiled by Fred. Eyles. Cape Town, 1916 url p. 318.
• A systematic catalogue of the flowering plants and ferns indigenous to or growing wild in Ceylon. Colombo: G. J. A. Skeen, 1885. url .
• An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1922-26. url p. 195.
• An introduction to the embryology of angiosperms. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1950. url p. 216.
• Annales du Jardin botanique de Buitenzorg. 32 1923 Leiden [etc.]: E. J. Brill [etc.] url p. 166, p. 254.
• Annals of the South African Museum. Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum. Cape Town [etc., South African Museum, etc.] url p. 314.
• Bengal plants: a list of the phanerogams, ferns and fern-allies indigenous to, or commonly cultivated in, the Lower provinces and Chittagong, with definitions of the natural orders and genera, and keys to the genera and species. 2 1903 Calcutta: Botanical Survey of India1903. url p. 1082.
• Botanical publications of E.D. Merrill. [New York, etc., 1899- url p. 195.
• Botany of Socotra. By Isaac Bayley Balfour. .. with the assistance of other botanists. .. Edinburgh, R. Grant, 1888. url p. 297.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information /Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1919 1919 London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1900-1941. url p. 132, p. 145, p. 413.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: The Museum, 1951-1992. url p. 116, p. 281, p. 388.
• Catalogue of the plants collected by Mr. & Mrs. P.A. Talbot in the Oban district, South Nigeria / by A.B. Rendle. .. [et al.]. London: Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum, 1913. url p. 149.
• Check-list of the species of fishes known from the Philippine Archipelago, Manila, Bureau of printing, 1910. url p. 134, p. 539.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 52 2005 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 158, p. 246, p. 247, p. 254, p. 400, p. 451, p. 457, p. 465, p. 466, p. 48, p. 512, p. V.
• Contributions to the flora of Siam [Aberdeen]Printed for the University1912- url p. 17.
• Contributions to the flora of Siam. .. / by William Grant Craib. .. [Aberdeen]: Printed for the University of Aberdeen, 1912- url p. 17.
• Field Museum of Natural History bulletin. Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, [1930]-c1990. url p. 24, p. 25.
• Flora Malesiana. general editor, C.G.G.J. van Steenis. Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff, 1950- url , p. 25.
• Flora of Japan: in English: combined, much revised and extended translation / by the author of his Flora of Japan (1953) and Flora of Japan, Pteridophyta (1957); edited by Frederick G. Meyer and Egbert H. Walker. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1965. url p. 271.
• Flora of the upper Gangetic plain, and of the adjacent Siwalik and sub-Himalayan tracts, by J. F. Duthie. Calcutta, Superintendent of Government Printing, 1903. url p. 274.
• Handbook of flower pollination based upon Hermann Müller's work 'The fertilisation of flowers by insects'; tr. by J.R. Ainsworth Davis. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1906. url p. 476.
• Handbook of flower pollination: based upon Hermann Mu?ller's work 'The fertilisation of flowers by insects' / Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906-09. url .
• Index of plants. 1912. Singapore, Printed at the Methodist Publishing House, 1912. url .
• Madagascar: an environmental profile IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 345, p. 365, p. 368.
• Manual of vascular plants of the lower Yangtze Valley, China. Corvallis, Oregon State College[1958] url p. 505, p. 588.
• Materials for a flora of the Malayan peninsula, by H. N. Ridley. Singapore, Printed at the Methodist publishing house, 1907. url p. 115.
• Minor products of Philippine forests, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1920-1921. url .
• Montana weed management plan / Helena, Mont.: Montana Dept. of Transportation, 2008. url .
• Novon a journal of botanical nomenclature from the Missouri Botanical Garden. 3 1993 St. Louis, MO: Missouri Botanical Garden, url p. 136, p. 226, p. 233, p. 400, p. 403.
• Oliver, D. Flora of tropical Africa /by Daniel Oliver. .. assisted by other botanists. 8 1901-1902 London: L. Reeve and co., 1868-1999. url p. 41, p. 42, p. 45.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 336, p. 67.
• Plants and their ways in South Africa. London, Longmans, Green, 1915. url p. 252, p. 252.
• Plants of the Punjab: a descriptive key to the flora of the Punjab, North-west Frontier Province, and Kashmir / by C.J. Bamber. Lahore: Supt. Govt. Printing, Punjab, 1916. url p. 564.
• Plants of the Punjab; a descriptive key to the flora of the Punjab, North-west Frontier Province and Kashmir. LahorePrinted by The Superintendent Government Printing1916 url p. 564.
• Rendle, A. B., E. G. Baker, S. le M. Moore & H. F. Wernham Catalogue of the plants collected by Mr. & Mrs. P.A. Talbotin the Oban district, South Nigeria, by A. B. Rendle, E.G. Baker, and H.F. Wernham, S. Moore, and others. With seventeen plates. 1913 London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1913. url p. 149.
• Revision of the flora of the Bombay presidency. [S.l.: s.n.], 1927-1930. url p. 466.
• South African journal of science. [Marshalltown, Transvaal: South African Association for the Advancement of Science, url p. 154.
• The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Bombay: The Society, url p. 973.
• The Journal of the College of Science, Imperial University of Tokyo, Japan = Tokyo Teikoku Daigaku kiyo. Rika. Tokyo, Japan: The University, 1898-1925. url p. 448.
• The Philippine journal of science. 12 1917 Manila. url p. 232, p. 343, p. 383, p. 400, p. 449, p. 66.
• The botany of Bihar and Orissa: an account of all the known indigenous plants of the province and of the most important or most commonly cultivated exotic ones / with maps and introduction by H. H. Haines. London: Printed by Adlard and sold by agents for Indian Official Publications, 1921-25. url p. 1077.
• The flora of British India /By J. D. Hooker assisted by various botanists. Published under the authority of the secretary of state for India in council. London: L. Reeve, 1875-97. url p. 372.
• The flora of the presidency of Bombay / By Theodore Cooke. London: Taylor and Francis, 1903-08. url p. 782, p. 783.
• The natural history of Sokotra and Abdel-Kuri: being the report upon the results of the Conjoint Expedition to these Islands in 1898-9, by Mr. W.R. Ogilvie-Grant. .. and Dr. H.O. Forbes. .. / edited by Henry O. Forbes. Liverpool: The Free Public Museums, Henry Young and Sons, 1903. url p. 513, p. 530.
• The useful plants of the island of Guam; with an introductory account of the physical features and natural history of the island, of the character and history of its people, and of their agriculture / by William Edwin Safford. Washington, D.C.: Govt. Print. Off., 1905. url p. 182, p. 246.
• Tropical agriculture: the climate, soils, cultural methods, crops, live stock, commercial importance and opportunities of the tropics / London: D. Appleton and Company, 1916. url .
• Tropical agriculture; the climate, soils, cultural methods, crops, live stock, commercial importance and opportunities of the tropics / by Earley Vernon Wilcox. London: D. Appleton and Company, 1916. url p. 318.
• [Pamphlets on agriculture in Guam] S.l.: s.n., 1905-1916 url p. 182.
• Hong Deyuan. 1997. Commelinaceae. In: Wu Kuo-fang, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 13(3) : 69--133.
• Brashier, C. K. 1966. A revision of Commelina (Plum.) L. in the U.S.A. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 93: 1--19.
• Faden, R. B. 1993b. The misconstrued and rare species of Commelina (Commelinaceae) in the eastern United States. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 80: 208--218.
• Pennell, F. W. 1916. Notes on plants of the southern United StatesâI. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 43: 96--111.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Rehel, S. 2011. Commelina benghalensis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 31January2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
• Herbier de la Guyane, Herbier de la Guyane
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection
• National Herbarium of New South Wales, Plants of Papua New Guinea
• National Institute of Genetics, ROIS, Herbarium Specimens of Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo Pref., Japan
• Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility, Magnoliophyta
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2659833
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-233742
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13751137
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:88346-3
• GRIN Nomen Number: 311531
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 39134
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 171925-1
• IUCN ID: 201585
• MoBot NameID: 8300281
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMCOM03010
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: COBE2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 12842

Footnotes

1. Deyuan Hong & Robert A. DeFilipps "Commelinaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 19. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Commelina". in Flora of North America Vol. 22. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. "Commelina benghalensis". in Flora of North America Vol. 22. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
4. Standard Deviation = 773.420 based on 248 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
5. Rehel, S. 2011. Commelina benghalensis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 31 January 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.