Commelina communis|Asiatic dayflower|Commelinaceae

Commelina communis. Copyright © 2005 by Robbin Moran. tcf.bh.cornell.edu.JPG *

Commelina communis is an Annual monocotyledon, trailing herb, rooting at nodes stems to 80 cm long, succulent, pale green.

Leaves alternate, stalkless, basal sheath 1-2 cm, clasping stem, blade narrowly egg-shaped, 5-12 cm long, 1.5-4 cm wide, tip pointed, base slightly lobed.

Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower). Dave Taft. 9/2017

Flowers bilaterally symmetrical, 3 petals, the upper two blue, 0.8-1.5 cm long, the lower one white, smaller, above a green heart-shaped bract sharply folded along midrib, tip pointing downward.

Commelina communis (asiatic-dayflower). © 2008 Katy Chayka. Minnesota Wildflowers. minnesotawildflowers.info

Fruit dry, 4-seeded capsule.

Wetland status: FAC.

Frequency in NYC: Frequent.

Origin: Asia.

Habitat: Weed of open ground sun or semi-shade, gardens, roadsides. Can become invasive in some places.

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Commelina communis Asiatic dayflower Commelinaceae COCO2*; Bx, bg, br, pb, sf, up, vc, wv (Yost et al. 1991); NY, bl (Stalter and Tang 2002), ct, hb, iw; Q, a, cu, j; K, p; R, ar, c, cl, d, hs, sv, ty, wt;