Commelina diffusa

Uses as Product: Berry/Nut/Seed Product: No • Christmas Tree Product: No • Fodder Product: No • Fuelwood Product: None • Lumber Product: No • Naval Store Product: No • Nursery Stock Product: No • Post Product: No • Pulpwood Product: No • Veneer Product: No

Edibility: Palatable Human: No • Toxicity: None

Taxonomy

Notes:

Publishing author: Hort.Berol. (1841) ex Kunth, Enum. Pl. iv. 659

Publishing author: Small Publication: Man. Southeast. Fl. 264 (1933).

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication: Fl. indica 18, t. 7, fig. 2. 1768

Name verified on 31-Mar-1987 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 10-Dec-2002

Physical 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]

Habit: Forb/herb • Growth Form: Stoloniferous • Shape and Orientation: Decumbent

Flowers: Bloom Period: Summer • Flower Color: Blue • Flower Conspicuous: Yes

Seeds: Seed per Pound: 175000 • Seed Spread Rate: Moderate • Seedling Vigor: High • Fruit/Seed Abundance: Medium • Fruit/Seed Color: Brown • Fruit/Seed Conspicuous: No • Cold Stratification Required: No

Foliage: Foliage Color: Yellow-Green • Foliage Porosity Summer: Porous • Foliage Porosity Winter: Porous • Foliage Texture: Coarse • Fall Conspicuous: No • Leaf Retention: No

Images:

Distribution

Range and Population

Caribbean

Native: .

Reproduction

Duration: Annual, Perennial • Coppice Potential: No • Progagated by Bulbs: No • Propagated by Bare Root: No • Propagated by Container: Yes • Propagated by Corms: No • Propagated by Cuttings: Yes • Propagated by Seed: Yes • Propagated by Sod: No • Propagated by Sprigs: Yes • Propagated by Tubers: No • Fruit/Seed Period Begin: Summer • Fruit/Seed Period End: Fall • Fruit/Seed Persistence: No • Fruit/Seed Persistence: No

Growth

Soil: Adapted to Medium Textured: Adapted to Medium Textured Soils • Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils: No • Anaerobic Tolerance: Medium • Salinity Tolerance: None • CaCO3 Tolerance: Medium • Minimum pH: 5.2 • Maximum pH: 7.2 • Fertility Requirement: Medium

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade. • Shade Tolerance: Tolerant

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: Low • Minimum Precipitation: 32 • Maximum Precipitation: 60 • Moisture Use: Medium

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): 47 • Minimum Frost Free Days: 120 • Cold Hardiness: 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11. (map)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Commelina:

There are approximately 481 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: C. communis exserta · C. diffusa aquatica · C. diffusa violacea · C. acuminata · C. acutispatha · C. acutissima · C. aequinoctiale · C. aequinoctialis · C. aequinoxialis · C. aethiopica · C. africana · C. africana africana · C. africana var. karooica · C. agraria · C. agrostophylla · C. albescens · C. albiflora · C. alpestris · C. ambigua · C. amphibia · C. amplexicaulis · C. ancilema · C. angolensis · C. angustissima · C. appendiculata · C. aquatica · C. arenicola · C. ascendens · C. aspera · C. assurgens · C. attenuata · C. aurantiiflora · C. auriculata · C. avenifolia · C. axillaris · C. baidoensis · C. bainesii · C. bakueana · C. bambusifolia · C. bambusifolioides · C. bangii · C. barbata · C. beccariana · C. bella · C. benghalensis (Benghal Dayflower) · C. benghalensis 'Variegata' · C. benghalensis hirsuta · C. benghalensis L. var. benghalensis · C. benghalensis variegata · C. benghaliensis · C. beniniensis · C. bequaertii · C. bianoensis · C. biflora · C. blumii · C. boehmiana · C. boissieriana · C. bracteolata · C. bracteosa · C. bravoa · C. bulbosa · C. caerulea · C. caespitosa · C. cajannensis · C. cameroonensis · C. canescens · C. cantonensis · C. capitata · C. cardiocephala · C. caripensis · C. caroliniana (Carolina Dayflower) · C. carsoni · C. carsonii · C. cavaleriei · C. cayennensis · C. cecilae · C. chamissonis · C. chinensis · C. ciliata · C. claessensii · C. clandestina · C. clarkeana · C. clavata · C. coelestis (Blue Spider Wort) · C. coelestis 'Sleeping Beauty' · C. coelestis f. albipetala · C. coelestis var. bourgeaui · C. coelestris · C. commelinoides · C. communis (Asiatic Dayflower) · C. communis 'Aureostriata' · C. communis f. alba · C. communis f. aureostriata · C. communis f. ciliata · C. communis L. var. communis L. · C. communis L. var. ludens (Miq.) C.B.Clarke · C. communis var. communis · C. communis var. exserta · C. communis var. ludens · C. condensata

Bibliography

• Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica. (F Jam)
• Babu, C. R. 1977. Herbaceous flora of Dehra Dun. (HF Dehra Dun)
• Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963–1968. Flora of Java. (F Java)
• Bhandari, M. M. 1978. Flora of the Indian desert. (F IndDes)
• Brako, L. and J. L. Zarucchi (1993a): Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru
• Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi (1993a): Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru
• Brashier, C. K. 1966. A revision of Commelina (Plum.) L. in the U.S.A. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 93: 1--19.
• CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988) (Weed CIBA)
• Cabrera, A. L. & E. M. Zardini. 1978. Manual de la flora de los alrededores de Buenos Aires. (Man BuenAir)
• Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago. (F Bahamas)
• Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. (F Tex)
• Cufodontis, G. 1953–1972. Enumeratio plantarum aethiopiae: Spermatophyta. (F EthiopCuf)
• Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage. (Zander ed13)
• Faden, R. B. 1993b. The misconstrued and rare species of Commelina (Commelinaceae) in the eastern United States. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 80: 208--218.
• Faden, R. B. 2001. The Commelinaceae of northeast Tropical Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya): Diversity and phytogeography. Biol. Skr. 54:230.
• Gleason, H. A. & A. Cronquist. 1963. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. (Glea Cron)
• Hara, H. Flora of eastern Himalaya. v. 1:1966, v. 2:1971, v. 3:1975 (F EHimal)
• Hara, H. et al. 1978–1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. (L Nepal)
• Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. (Atlas WWeed)
• Hong Deyuan. 1997. Commelinaceae. In: Wu Kuo-fang, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 13(3) : 69--133.
• Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953–1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2. (F WT Afr)
• Li, H. L. et al., eds. 1975–1979. Flora of Taiwan. (F Taiwan)
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. (Hortus 3)
• Malezasdemexico. Malezas de México - on-line resource. (Malezas Mex)
• Matthew, K. M. 1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic. (F TamilC)
• Ohwi, J. 1965. Flora of Japan (Engl. ed.). (F JapanOhwi)
• Pennell, F. W. 1916. Notes on plants of the southern United StatesâI. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 43: 96--111.
• Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. (F Carolin)
• Rao, R. 1964. Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 25:179.
• Ross, J. 1972. The flora of Natal. (F Natal)
• Saldanha, C. J. & D. H. Nicolson. 1976. Flora of Hassan district. (F Hassan)
• Schijff, H. P. van der. 1969. A check-list of the vascular plants of the Kruger national park. (L Kruger)
• Standley, P. C. 1937–1939. Flora of Costa Rica. (F CRStand)
• Steyermark, J. A. & O. Huber. 1978. Flora del Avila. (F Avila)
• Steyermark, J. A. 1977. Flora of Missouri. (F Missouri)
• Walker, E. 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands. (F Okin)
• Wiggins, I. L. 1980. Flora of Baja California. (F Baja)
• Yunnan Inst. Bot. & Kunming Inst. Bot. Acad. Sci., eds. 1977–. Flora yunnanica. (F Yunnan)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CA L | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
• Translate this page using Google: Arabic | Chinese | Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano | Japanese | Korean | Português

Notes

Contributors:

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2007. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed March 28, 2007.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 29, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
• The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Jan 19, 2007.
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 27, 2008)

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 21, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
• Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program
• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad, Herbario del Instituto de Ecología, A.C., México
• Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
• Herbier de la Guyane, Herbier de la Guyane
• Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
• , Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
• 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
• SysTax, Herbarium Universitat Ulm
• SysTax, SysTax
• Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility, Magnoliophyta
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Alabama Biodiversity and Systematics, Herbarium

Identifiers:

• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 39131
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13751138
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:172022-1
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMCOM03040
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: CODI5
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 32063

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.
2. "Commelina". in Flora of North America Vol. 22. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org.