| Monocotyledon | Literature for Commelina diffusa
Wagner et al., 1990, 1999; Lorence & Wagner, 2019. |
| Commelinaceae -- The Spiderwort Family | Bibliography |
| Commelina diffusa | |
Common name(s): day flower, honhono, honhono wai, makolokolo |
| General Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Native to the Old World tropics, widely naturalized and weedy in many tropical areas.In the Hawaiian Islands, naturalized on Midway, Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui, Hawai`i. | |
| Habit |
Annual herb with fibrous root system; stems at first erect, later decumbent, rooting at the nodes, to 4 dm long, glabrous or nearly so. |
|
| Leaves |
Leaves sessile or subsessile; blade narrowly to broadly lanceolate,
3.5‒11 cm long, 0.8‒2 cm wide, adaxial surface glabrous to sparsely scabrous,
abaxial surface glabrous, apex acute to acuminate, base rounded to cuneate,
sheath 1‒2 cm long, ciliate on the distal edge (hairs translucent or whitish), otherwise glabrous to sparsely puberulent. |
|
| Flowers |
Hypogenous flowers not present, spathe
1.5‒2 cm long, margin not connate at
base, gradually tapering to the acute or obtuse apex, peduncle usually exserted from spathe; petals blue, upper 2 reniform, lower one smaller, ca. 6 mm long, saccate. |
|
| Seeds |
Seeds 5, the surface raised reticulate. |
|
| Chromosomes |
2n = 28, 30, 42, ca. 45, 56, 58, 60, 72. |
|
| Contributor |
Nancy Khan |
