2024 Edition • Donate • Get the App • Cite this Page
X

Colors

Data mode

Account

Login
Sign up

Support FSUS...

We've finished our 2024 fundraiser. Many thanks to those who have given! It's not too late to support us (click here)...

Copy permalink to share

Commelina erecta Linnaeus var. erecta . Erect Dayflower. Phen: Jun-Oct. Hab: Dry openings and woodlands, especially in thin soil around rock outcrops, streambanks, riverbanks, mesic forests. Dist: PA west to MO and e. KS, south to FL and TX; also apparently in Central and South America.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Synonymy ⓘ: = C, ETx1, F, G, GrPl, Il, K1, Tat, Brashier (1966); > Commelina elegans Kunth – S, S13, Tx; < Commelina erecta L. var. angustifolia (Michx.) Fernald – FNA22, K4, Mi, Mo1, NY, Pa, RAB, Tn, Va, W, WH3, Faden (1993), Tucker (1989); > Commelina erecta L. var. angustifolia (Michx.) Fernald – S, S13; > Commelina erecta L. var. erecta – Tx; > Commelina saxicola Small – S13; > Commelina swingleana Nash – S13

Links to other floras: < Commelina erecta - FNA22

Show in key(s)

Show parent genus

Wetland Indicator Status:

  • Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
  • Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FAC (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
  • Great Plains: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
  • Midwest: FAC (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
  • Northcentral & Northeast: UPL (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)

Heliophily ⓘ: 8

Your browser does not support SVGs

Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.

image of plant© Carol Ann McCormick | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Alan Weakley source | Original Image ⭷

Feedback

See something wrong or missing on about Commelina erecta var. erecta? Let us know here: (Please include your name and email if at all complicated so we can clarify if needed.) We greatly appreciate feedback, and will include updates from you in our next webapp update, which can take a few months.


Horticultural Information

NCBG trait

Intro: Erect or ascending perennial of dry openings and woodlands, especially in thin soil around rock outcrops, streambanks, riverbanks and mesic forests.

Stems: Stems simple or forking, slender, succulent, usually hairy.

Leaves: Leaves alternate, widely spreading, sessile with the base of the leaf enclosing the stem in a small sheath fringed with white hairs, 4-6 in. long and smooth,.

Inforescence:

Flowers: Flowers single or in small clusters, 3/4-1 1/4 in. wide, consisting of 2 round blue (rarely white) petals with one very small white petal in the middle, 3 purple and 3 yellow stamens (one of the latter with a notably larger, butterfly-shaped anther), and a pistil with a slender style; below the flower is a folded, leafy bract 1-1½ inches long. Flowers open in morning and wither by afternoon.

Fruits: Fruit a small 3-celled capsule.

Comments: Similar to Common Dayflower (Commelina communis), an Old World species with sprawling stems that form mats by rooting at the leaf nodes and is found in moist disturbed areas.

Height: up to 2 ft.

plant sale text:

bloom table text:

description: Erect or ascending perennial of dry openings and woodlands, especially in thin soil around rock outcrops, streambanks, riverbanks and mesic forests.

stems: Stems simple or forking, slender, succulent, usually hairy.

leaves: Leaves alternate, widely spreading, sessile with the base of the leaf enclosing the stem in a small sheath fringed with white hairs, 4-6 in. long and smooth,.

inflorescence:

flowers: Flowers single or in small clusters, 3/4-1 1/4 in. wide, consisting of 2 round blue (rarely white) petals with one very small white petal in the middle, 3 purple and 3 yellow stamens (one of the latter with a notably larger, butterfly-shaped anther), and a pistil with a slender style; below the flower is a folded, leafy bract 1-1½ inches long. Flowers open in morning and wither by afternoon.

fruits: Fruit a small 3-celled capsule.

comments: Similar to Common Dayflower (Commelina communis), an Old World species with sprawling stems that form mats by rooting at the leaf nodes and is found in moist disturbed areas.

cultural notes:

germination code:

native range: