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Murdannia spirata

(Asiatic Dewflower)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Asiatic Dewflower

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 Murdannia

Herbs, annual or perennial . Roots thin [tuberous ]. Leaves: blade sessile. Inflorescences terminal , terminal and axillary , or all axillary, thyrses to fascicles of 1-flowered cymes; spathaceous bracts absent; bracteoles persistent or caducous . Flowers bisexual or bisexual and staminate , radially or bilaterally symmetric ; pedicels well developed; sepals distinct , subequal ; petals distinct, white to purple or violet, rarely yellow, subequal, not clawed; stamens 2--3 fertile and antisepalous , 3--4 staminodial and antipetalous (if 4, then 1 antisepalous) ; filaments glabrous or bearded ; antherodes usually 3-lobed; ovary 3-locular, ovules 1--many per locule, 1[--2]-seriate. Capsules 3-valved, 3-locular. Seeds 1--many per locule, 1[--2]-seriate; hilum punctiform to linear ; embryotega abaxial to semilateral. x = 6, 7, 9, 10, 11.

Species ca. 50: introduced ; pantropical and warm temperate .[2]

Physical Description

Species Murdannia spirata

Herbs, annual , erect to decumbent , usually much branched with age, to 30 cm. Leaves: blade lanceolate-oblong to ovate , 1--4 ´ 0.3--1 cm. Inflorescences: cymes 1--2, several-flowered, elongate ; bracteoles persistent , 2--6 mm apart. Flowers bisexual , radially symmetric , 8 mm wide; sepals 2.5--4 mm; petals rose or lavender with darker veins, 4--5 mm; fertile stamens 3; filaments bearded ; staminodes 3. Capsules 3--5 mm. Seeds 3--7 per locule, less than 1 mm, warty. [source]

Flowers: Bloom Period: August, September, October, November.

Habitat

Palm hammocks , low prairies, glades , pastures, and roadsides (Ref. 51441).

Typically found in a lake at a mean distance from sea level of 407 meters (1,337 feet).[3]

Ecology: It is annual or perhaps also perennial in permanently wet places. However, mainly found in a wide variety of wet habitats : rice fields , irrigation ditches, river beds and banks and in marshes. It is often gregarious and forms distinct clumps or zones around drying pools (Cook 1996). [4].

List of Habitats:

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Aneilema spiratum (L.) Sweet • Aneilena nanum • Commelina spirata L. • Commelina spirata Linnaeus • Mant. Pl. 2: 176. 1771

Notes

Publishing author : G.Br?ckn. Publication : Nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 2 [Engler & Prantl] xv a. 173 (1930)

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 21-Jun-2005

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Murdannia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 5 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

M. graminea (Blue Murdannia) · M. keisak (Aneilima) · M. loriformis (Severalflower Dewflower) · M. nudiflora (Dove Weed) · M. spirata (Asiatic Dewflower)

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 February 28, 2008:

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. "Murdannia". in Flora of North America Vol. 22 Page 190, 191. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Standard Deviation = 1,153.460 based on 8 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
  4. Mani, S. 2011. Murdannia spirata. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 2012-05-01