Murdannia japonica (Thunb.) Faden

Species

Angiosperms > Commelinales > Commelinaceae > Murdannia

Characteristics

Herbs perennial. Roots fibrous, ca. 2 mm in diam., slightly fusiform thickened, densely or rarely sparsely tomentose. Rhizomes absent. Main stem undeveloped and very short; fertile stems arising from base of main stems, erect, 20--40 cm × ca. 3 mm, glabrous or hispidulous near nodes. Leaves on main stems several, basal, rosulate; leaf blade narrowly elliptic, 8--15 × (1.5--)2--4.5 cm, glabrous, base cuneate or broadly cuneate, margin undulate, apex obtuse, acute, or shortly acuminate. Leaves on fertile stems several, cauline; basal leaf sheathlike, membranous, bladeless, 2-lobed, lobes subulate-triangular; other leaves with blade similar to that of rosulate leaves but wider, hirsute only on sheath, undulate at margin. Panicles terminal, consisting of several cincinni, glabrous throughout; cincinni to 3 cm, with several flowers, 2 to several fertile; involucral bracts small, proximal ones longest, ca. 1.5 cm, distal ones ca. 3 mm, membranous; bracts extremely small, membranous, enveloping cincinnus axis; pedicels straight, very short at anthesis, to 7 mm in fruit. Sepals narrowly elliptic, 0.5--6 mm, persistent. Petals purple or blue, obovate-orbicular. Fertile stamens 2 or 3; filaments pubescent; staminodes 3; antherodes 3-sect. Capsule broadly ellipsoid, trigonous, ca. 5 × 4 mm, obtuse at both ends. Seeds 2--4 per valve, uniseriate, brown-gray, tetragonal, 3 sides flat, 1 slightly convex and verrucose. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Aug--Sep.
More
An erect herb. The leaves do not have leaf stalks. Leaves are 6-16 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. They are narrowly oblong. They taper to the tip. The edge has a rough texture. The base is wedge shaped or rounded. The flowers are purple. The fruit is a capsule.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) -
Root system fibrous-root rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

A tropical and subtropical plant. In Nepal it grows between 400-2000 m altitude. It grows in shady places. In Yunnan.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

The roots are boiled and eaten like potatoes.
Uses medicinal
Edible roots
Therapeutic use Abortifacient (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Murdannia japonica world distribution map, present in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Viet Nam

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:172860-1
WFO ID wfo-0000473534
COL ID 44LMM
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Commelina lineolata Murdannia elata Murdannia japonica Aneilema cordatum Aneilema elatum Aneilema herbaceum Aneilema japonicum Aneilema latifolium Aneilema lineolatum Commelina elata Dirtea japonica Phaeneilema herbaceum Tinantia lineolata Commelina herbacea Commelina japonica Murdannia lineolata