Commelina communis

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Asiatic dayflower

Close up of a Commelina communis flower

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Liliopsida
Order:	Commelinales
Family:	Commelinaceae
Subfamily:	Commelinoideae
Tribe:	Commelineae
Genus:	Commelina
Species:	C. communis

Binomial name

Commelina communis
L.

A patch of C. communis

Commelina communis with foliage and stalks in background.
The blue petals are 8-10 mm long.

Commelina communis, commonly known as the Asiatic dayflower, is an herbaceous plant in the dayflower family. It is native to East Asia and extending into South East Asia. It has also been introduced to parts of Europe and much of North America.

The flower comprises two larger blue petals joined at the ends, one smaller white petal, numerous yellow stigmas, and slender white stamen. The yellow star-shaped "anthers" at the ends of the stamen are fake; their purpose is to attract bees to pollinate the real anthers, which are long, white, and located just behind the fake ones. The leaves are smooth, shiny, and spear-shaped, making them easily mistaken for a common grass weed. A nuisance to agriculture and home gardens due to its invasive tendency, it is often considered a weed. It is sometimes employed as a ground cover.

This plant served as the type species for the genus. Linnaeus picked the name Commelina in honour of the three Dutch brothers of the Commelijn family, using the flower of Commelina communis to symbolise them. The large, blue petals represent the botanists Jan Commelijn and his nephew Kaspar, who were famous for their work, while the small lower white petal symbolises their brother who died at a young age.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Distribution

The plant can be found through much of East Asia and South East Asia. Country by country, it is found in China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, the Russian Far East, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.^[1]

The plant has been introduced to parts of Europe and eastern North America. It can be found in Italy as well as in Central Europe and the Balkans.^[2] In Canada it is present in Ontario and Quebec. In the United States it it has been found in most of the eastern and central states from Massachusetts and New York in the northeast, west to Minnesota and south through the Great Plains to Texas and east Florida.^[3]

[edit] References

^ Hong, Deyuan; DeFillipps, Robert A. (2000), “Commelina communis”, in Wu, Z. Y.; Raven, P.H.; Hong, D.Y., Flora of China, vol. 24, Beijing: Science Press; St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press, pp. 36
^ Hsu, K.C. (1978), “Commelina communis”, in Li et al., Flora of Taiwan, vol. 5, p. 164, <http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=100&taxon_id=200027375>
^ Faden, Robert (2006), “Commelina communis”, in Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+, Flora of North America, vol. 22, New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 193