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Callisia repens L.

Creeping inchplant (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Commelinales > Commelinaceae > Callisia

Characteristics

Herbs perennial. Stems prostrate, forming mats, much branched, rooting at nodes. Leaves distichous, gradually becoming smaller distally along flowering shoots; leaf blade ovate to lanceolate, 1--4 × 0.6--1.2 cm, glabrous except for scabrid margin and apex, base clasping, subcordate or obtuse, apex acuminate. Inflorescence of paired (sometimes solitary), sessile, dense cincinni in axils of distal leaves. Flowers bisexual or male. Sepals green, linear-oblong, 3--4 mm, hirsute along midvein, margin scarious. Petals white, lanceolate, 3--6 mm. Stamens 3; filaments long exserted; connectives broadly deltoid. Ovary oblong, subtrigonous, 2-loculed, apex pilose; ovules 2 per locule. Style filiform, long; stigma penicillate. Capsule oblong, ca. 1.5 mm, 2-valved. Seeds 2 per valve, brown, ca. 1 mm, rugose. 2 n = 12.
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Herbs, perennial, mat-forming, repent (flowering stems ascending). Leaves 2-ranked, gradually reduced toward ends of flowering stems; blade ovate to lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong, 1--3.5 ´ 0.6--1 cm (distal leaf blades much narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), margins scabrid, apex acute, glabrous. Inflorescences sessile in axils of distal leaves of flowering stems, composed of pairs of sessile cymes (sometimes reduced to single cymes). Flowers bisexual and pistillate, odorless, subsessile; petals inconspicuous, white, lanceolate, 3--6 mm; stamens 0--6, long-exserted; filaments glabrous; ovary 2-locular, stigma penicillate. Capsules 2-locular. Seeds 1 mm.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.75 - 1.0
Mature height (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light 4-6
Soil humidity 3-7
Soil texture 3-4
Soil acidity 2-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-11

Usage

Uses environmental use medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Diuretic (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Spasm (unspecified), Bilious (unspecified), Nerves (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings or divisions.
Mode cuttings divisions
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -7
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Callisia repens habit picture by Shehadi Ramiz (cc-by-sa)
Callisia repens habit picture by Trap Hers (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Callisia repens leaf picture by meijide federico (cc-by-sa)
Callisia repens leaf picture by Mary Pead (cc-by-sa)
Callisia repens leaf picture by Mary Pead (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Callisia repens world distribution map, present in Aruba, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, United States of America, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:171826-1
WFO ID wfo-0000343293
COL ID 5X7WQ
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 447787
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Hapalanthus repens Tradescantia callisia Callisia hexandra Commelina hexandra var. mandonii Callisia repens var. ciliata Callisia repens var. mandonii Callisia hexandra var. caracasana Callisia hexandra var. mandonii Callisia hexandra var. salzmannii Callisia repens
WorldFloraDB 2024