Commelina erecta L.

White mouth dayflower (en), Comméline dressée (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Commelinales > Commelinaceae > Commelina

Characteristics

Perennial from a cluster of thickened fibrous roots; stems erect or ascending, to 1 m, usually branched; principal lvs linear to lanceolate, 4–15 × 0.5–4 cm, the sheaths white-ciliate, somewhat prolonged at the summit into rounded, often flaring auricles; spathes arising near the summit of the culm, solitary or in small clusters, short-peduncled, broadly semi-deltoid, often with conspicuous radiating cross-veins, the margins connate in the lower third, upper pet 10–25 mm, the lower one much smaller and white; 2n=56–120. Dry, usually sandy soil; s. N.Y. to Pa., O., Mich., se. Minn., Io., and Wyo., s. to S. Amer.; also Old World. Highly variable, but only with difficulty divisible into vars. Var. erecta (C. virginica, misapplied; C. elegans), with lanceolate or lance-ovate lvs 10–15 ×1.5–4 cm, and with the spathes glabrous or nearly so, is mainly Ozarkian (with us), but extends ±throughout the range of the sp. Var. angustifolia (Mich.) Fernald (incl. C. crispa), with linear lvs 4–1  and small spathes 1–2 cm, centers in Tex., but extends irregularly into our range. Var. deamiana Fernald, with linear lvs 10–15 cm, the spathes 2.5–3.5 cm and often pilose at base, occurs mainly on sand dunes from Ind. and s. Mich. to Neb., occasionally s. and w. to Tex. and Ariz.
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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.
Perennials (chamaephytes), erect or spreading and rooting at nodes; roots hard, when young covered with a velamen of root-hairs. Leaves narrowly ovate-attenuate, 60-120 mm long, pseudo-petiolate at junction of lamina with apex of auriculate, ciliate sheath, margins minutely white-pustulate, glabrous or puberulous. Spathe pedunculate and solitary or clustered apically, fused, broadly ovate-acute, 15-30 mm long, glabrous to puberulous. Lower cyme absent. Flowers with petals blue. Capsule with 3 one-seeded locules; dorsal locule indehiscent, tuberculate, seed fused to wall; ventral locules dehiscent, smooth; seeds globose smooth, farinose.
Perennial herb, 0.2-0.9 m high; stems erect or spreading. Leaves attenuate, 60-120 mm long. Spathe pedunculate and solitary or clustered apically, puberulous. Inflorescence with 1 cyme, lower cyme absent. Flowers: petals blue. Flowering time Aug.-Mar. Fruit a capsule with smooth, dehiscent ventral locule.
Perennial herb, erect or spreading, up to 500 mm tall. Capsule triangular, with dorsal locule indehiscent, tuberculate. Cymes 1 mm each spathe. Leaves narrowly ovate-attenuate, 60-120 mm long. Spathes single and shortly pedicelled. Flowers blue.
A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. The leaves are 4-15 cm long by 1-4 cm wide. The flowers are blue.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 1.2
Root system creeping-root fibrous-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Loamy or sandy soils or rocky slopes in woods and openings. Moist or wet thickets or forest, often a weed in cultivated ground, at elevations of 1,300 metres or lower, most common at the lower elevations.
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It is a warm temperate plant. In Argentina it grows below 700 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 6-9.
Loamy or sandy soils or rocky slopes in woods and openings.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 3-7
Soil texture 5-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-10

Usage

Uses animal food environmental use food medicinal ornamental social use
Edible leaves roots
Therapeutic use Dysentery (leaf), Evil eye (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Nerves (unspecified), Spasm (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Sterility (unspecified), Antineoplastic agents (whole plant), Cardiovascular system (whole plant), Diuretics (whole plant)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) 30 - 37
Germination temperacture (C°) 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Commelina erecta habit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Commelina erecta habit picture by Trap Hers (cc-by-sa)
Commelina erecta habit picture by Aaron Harp (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Commelina erecta leaf picture by Shehadi Ramiz (cc-by-sa)
Commelina erecta leaf picture by jacob kinnaird (cc-by-sa)
Commelina erecta leaf picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Commelina erecta flower picture by ℭ𝔩𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔰𝔢 (cc-by-sa)
Commelina erecta flower picture by steve fender (cc-by-sa)
Commelina erecta flower picture by Shehadi Ramiz (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Commelina erecta fruit picture by susan brown (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Commelina erecta world distribution map, present in Aruba, Angola, Åland Islands, Benin, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Botswana, Central African Republic, Congo, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Spain, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Palau, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Suriname, eSwatini, Chad, Togo, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Uruguay, United States of America, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Yemen, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Commelina erecta threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:172048-1
WFO ID wfo-0000358795
COL ID XFJ4
BDTFX ID 101532
INPN ID 611094
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Commelina bainesii Commelina erecta f. erecta Commelina sulcata Commelina kurzii var. glochidea Commelina setosa Commelina erecta var. typica Commelina erecta

Lower taxons

Commelina erecta subsp. erecta Commelina erecta subsp. livingstonii Commelina erecta subsp. maritima