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Benghal dayflower, dayflower, jio, tropical spiderwort

Asiatic dayflower, comméline commune

Habit Herbs, annual. Herbs, annual, erect to decumbent.
Roots

thin, rhizomes short, subterranean, bearing cleistogamous flowers produced from base of plant.

at proximal nodes.

Stems

ascending to decumbent or occasionally scrambling.

diffusely branched.

Leaves

leaf sheaths, not auriculate, often with red hairs at summit;

blade ovate to lanceolate-elliptic, (1–)2–9(–11) × 1–3(–4.5) cm, apex rounded, obtuse or acute, pubescent.

blade narrowly lanceolate to ovate-elliptic, 5–12 × 1–4 cm, apex acute to acuminate.

Inflorescences

distal cyme often exserted and 1-flowered, sometimes vestigial;

spathes often clustered, subsessile (peduncles 1–3.5 mm), funnelform, 0.5–1.5(–2) cm, margins connate basally, pubescent.

distal cyme usually vestigial, included, sometimes 1-flowered, exserted;

spathes solitary, green, paler or whitish basally with contrasting, dark green veins, pedunculate, usually not falcate, 1.5–3(–3.5) × 0.8–1.3(–1.8) cm, margins distinct, scabrous, not ciliate, apex acute to acuminate, glabrous to puberulent;

peduncles 0.8–3.5(–5) cm.

Flowers

chasmogamous flowers bisexual and staminate, subterranean cleistogamous flowers bisexual;

petals of staminate flowers all blue (rarely lilac), proximal smaller;

lateral stamen filaments not winged;

staminodes 2–3;

antherodes yellow, cruciform;

pollen white;

medial stamen pollen yellow.

bisexual (rarely staminate);

proximal petal paler or white, very reduced, distal petals blue to bluish purple;

staminodes 3;

antherodes yellow sometimes with central maroon spot, cruciform.

Capsules

3-locular, 2-valved, 4–6 mm.

2-locular, 2-valved, 4.5–8 mm.

Seeds

5, brown or blackish, seeds of adaxial locule 1.7–2.5 mm, shallowly reticulate, farinose.

4, brown, (2–)2.5–4.2 × 2.2–3 mm, rugose pitted-reticulate.

2n

= 22.

Commelina benghalensis

Commelina communis

Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Citrus plantations, fields, yards, and other cultivated and disturbed sites Weedy and waste places, edges of fields, woods, and marshes, often in thick herbaceous vegetation, occasionally in woods
Distribution
from FNA
CA; FL; GA; LA; neotropics; native; paleotropics [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; ON; QC; native; Asia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Commelina benghalensis was first recognized and collected in California in 1980. The California plants are approximately hexaploid and represent a separate and much later introduction than the southeastern plants. The species is federally listed as an Obnoxious Weed.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Commelina communis var. ludens (Miquel) C. B. Clarke is distinguished by its darker flowers, antherodes with maroon centers (instead of entirely yellow), distalmost cyme less well developed and usually not producing a flower, and spathes proportionally broader. I have not found it possible to separate this regularly from C. communis var. communis, which also occurs in the flora. A variegated form of C. communis var. ludens, forma aureostriata MacKeever, occurs spontaneously and has been noted from Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 22. FNA vol. 22, p. 193.
Parent taxa Commelinaceae > Commelina Commelinaceae > Commelina
Sibling taxa
C. caroliniana, C. communis, C. dianthifolia, C. diffusa, C. erecta, C. forskaolii, C. gambiae, C. virginica
C. benghalensis, C. caroliniana, C. dianthifolia, C. diffusa, C. erecta, C. forskaolii, C. gambiae, C. virginica
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 41. (1753) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 40. (1753)
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