896.000 Commelina L.

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs. Underground stolons sometimes bearing cleistogamous flowers. Flowers in one or two 1-6-flowered cymes enclosed in a spathe. Upper cyme 1-(-3)-flowered, usually male, exserted on a long peduncle, sometimes rudimentary or 0. Lower cyme included, borne on a short peduncle; flowers 2-6, all bisexual or some male, just exserted at flowering time. Flowers open in morning, soon deliquescent. Petals 3, free; upper 2 flat, variously coloured, the lower reduced, often colourless. Stamens 3, lower fertile, upper 3 staminodes, reduced. Ovary (2-)3-locular. Fruit a capsule.

Derivation of name: Named after Kaspar (1667-1731) and Johann (1629-1698) Commelin, Dutch botanists.

Worldwide: c. 170 species in tropical and warm regions

Zambia: 25 taxa.

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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsProvincesContent
africana L.N,E (other?)Nw,N,Mc,Lk,S,WDescription, Image
aspera Benth. var. aspera Nw,C,Lk,S,WDescription
aspera Benth. var. opulens (C.B.Clarke) Faden?S
aurantiiflora Faden & Raynsford
benghalensis L.NLk,WDescription, Image
bracteosa Hassk.Lk,S
diffusa Burm. f. subsp. diffusa B,N,W,C,E,SN,Mc,LkDescription, Image
eckloniana KunthLkDescription, Image
erecta L.S
fluviatilis BrenanS,W
foliacea Chiov. subsp. amplexicaulis Faden
forskaolii VahlDescription, Image
grandis Brenan[DD]Description
grossa C.B. ClarkeNw
kituloensis FadenE
neurophylla C.B. ClarkeN,EImage
nigritana Benth. var. nigritana C,Lk,S
nyasensis C.B. ClarkeW
petersii Hassk.Lk
pycnospatha Brenan[DD]LkDescription
schweinfurthii C.B.Clarke subsp. ceciliae (C.B. Clarke) FadenB,N,W,C,E,SLkImage
sphaerorrhizoma Faden & LaytonW,CNw,WDescription, Image
subulata RothW,C,E,SC,Lk,S,WDescription, Image
welwitschii C.B.ClarkeNwDescription, Image
zambesica C.B.ClarkeLk,S

Other sources of information about Commelina:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Commelina
Flora of Caprivi: Commelina
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Commelina
Flora of Malawi: Commelina
Flora of Mozambique: Commelina
Flora of Zimbabwe: Commelina

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Commelina
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Commelina
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Commelina
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Commelina
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Commelina
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Commelina
JSTOR Plant Science: Commelina
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Commelina
Plants of the World Online: Commelina
Tropicos: Commelina
Wikipedia: Commelina

Copyright: Mike Bingham, Annette Willemen, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Mark Hyde, 2011-24

Bingham, M.G., Willemen, A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. and Hyde, M.A. (2024). Flora of Zambia: Genus page: Commelina.
https://www.zambiaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=315, retrieved 19 April 2024

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