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Commelina erecta

(Whitemouth Dayflower)

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Erect Dayflower, Hierba De Pollo, Scrub Dayflower, Slender Dayflower, Whitemouth Dayflower

Common Names in Spanish:

Cantillo

Description

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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

Species Commelina erecta

Herbs, perennial . Roots fleshy , stout, tufted . Stems cespitose, usually erect to ascending (rarely decumbent , rooting at nodes). Leaves: leaf sheath auriculate at apex; blade sessile or petiolate , linear to lanceolate (rarely lanceolate-ovate), 5--15 ´ 0.3--4 cm, apex acuminate (rarely acute). Inflorescences: distal cyme vestigial, included ; spathes solitary or clustered, green, pedunculate , not at all to strongly falcate , 1--2.5(--4) ´ 0.7--1.5(--2.5) cm, margins longly connate , glabrous except along connate edge, apex acute to acuminate, sometimes purple, usually variously pubescent ; peduncles 0.5--1(--2) cm. Flowers bisexual and staminate , 1.5--4 cm wide; proximal petal minute, white, distal petals blue (rarely lavender or white) ; staminodes 3, staminodes and medial stamen entirely yellow; antherodes cruciform . Capsules 3-locular, 2-valved (very rarely 3-valved), 3.5--4.5 ´ 3--5 mm; abaxial locule warty, indehiscent (very rarely smooth and dehiscent ) ; adaxial locules smooth, dehiscent. Seeds 3, brown, with soft, whitish tissue at both ends or in a band , 2.4--3.5 ´ 2.3--2.8 mm, nearly smooth. 2n = 60. [source]

This is by far the most variable species of Commelina in the flora . Three freely intergrading varieties may be recognized, although they are of questionable significance: C. erecta var. erecta, with larger leaves lanceolate to lanceolate-ovate, (1.5--) 2--4 cm wide, and spathes (2.2--) 2.5--3.6 cm, occurs throughout our region; C. erecta var. angustifolia (Michaux) Fernald, with leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, 0.3--1.5 cm wide, and spathes 1--2 cm, is mainly southern but extends as far north as Virginia; and C. erecta var. deamiana Fernald, with leaves linear to narrowly lanceolate, 0.5--1.7 cm wide, and spathes 2--3.5 cm, occurs in midwestern United States south to Texas. [source]

Flowers: Bloom Period: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October. • Flower Color: medium blue

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 12-18" tall.

Habitat

Rocky woods and hillsides, scrub oak woods, pine woods and barrens , sand dunes, hummocks, shale barrens, roadsides, railroad rights-of-way, fields , and occasionally a weed in cultivated ground [3].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,641 meters (0 to 8,665 feet).[4]

Biology

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Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. C. crispa Wooton
  2. C. elegans Kunth
  3. Commelina angustifolia Michaux

Notes

Publishing author : Fassett Publication : Bull . Torrey Bot. Club 70: 398 1943 Publishing author: E.J.Palmer & Steyerm. Publication: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 22: 497 1935 Basionym author: (Wooton) Publishing author: H.B. & K . Publication: Nov. Gen. Sp. [H.B.K.] i. 259 Publishing author: Wooton Publication: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 1898, 451. Publishing author: Small Publication: Fl. S.E. U.S. 242, 1328 1903 [22 Jul 1903] Publishing author: Small Publication: Fl. S.E. U.S. 242. Publishing author: Michx. Publication: Fl. Bor.-Amer. (Michaux) i. 24 Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication: Sp. pl. 1:41. 1753

Name verified on 26-Oct-1995 by ARS Systematic Botanists.

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Commelina

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 385 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

C. acuminata · C. acutispatha · C. acutissima · C. aequinoctiale · C. aequinoctialis · 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. angustifolia · C. angustissima · C. anomala · 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 (Tropical Spiderwort) · C. benghalensis L. var. benghalensis · C. benghalensis hirsuta · 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. caerulea · C. caespitosa · C. cameroonensis · C. canescens · C. capitata · C. cardiocephala · C. caripensis · C. caroliniana (Carolina Dayflower) · 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 var. bourgeaui · C. coelestris · C. communis (Asiatic Dayflower) · C. communis 'Aureostriata' · C. communis L. var. communis L. · C. communis f. aureostriata · C. communis L. var. ludens (Miq.) C.B.Clarke · C. communis var. communis (Asiatic Dayflower) · C. communis var. ludens (Asiatic Dayflower) · C. condensata · C. congesta · C. conspicua · C. corbisieri · C. coreana · C. corradii · C. crassicaulis · C. crispa · C. cristata · C. critica · C. cucullata · C. cufodontii · C. cuneata

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 21, 2007:

Identifiers

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 erecta". in Flora of North America Vol. 22. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  4. Mean = 276.880 meters (908.399 feet), Standard Deviation = 393.790 based on 1,091 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 2009-08-27