Commelina forskaolii

Vahl

Enum. Pl. 2: 172. 1805.

Treatment appears in FNA Volume 22.

Herbs, annual or perennial, mat-forming. Roots thin. Stems erect to ascending, to 30 cm. Leaves: leaf-sheaths not auriculate, with colorless hairs at summit; blade oblong or lanceolate-oblong to oblongelliptic, 1.5–6 × 0.4–1.1 cm, margins strongly undulate, completely glabrous or adaxially sparsely pilose. Inflorescences: distal cyme usually exserted, 1-flowered; spathes solitary, pedunculate, strongly inflated, not falcate, 0.7–1.5 × 0.5–0.9 cm, margins connate, often violet, apex acute, sparsely hirsute; peduncles 0.4–1.1 cm. Flowers sometimes cleistogamous and subterranean (not yet seen in our area); chasmogamous flowers bisexual and staminate; petals blue, proximal one very reduced, conspicuous (blue, rather than white or colorless); lateral stamens with filaments laterally compressed and ± winged; antherodes entirely yellow, cruciform. Capsules 3-locular, 2-valved. Seeds sometimes 5, brown, usually only 1 abaxial locule seed developing, enclosed in deciduous, muricate, abaxial capsule valve; seeds of adaxial locule, when present, 2.5 mm, smooth. 2n = 30.


Phenology: Flowering summer–winter.
Habitat: Sanitary department landfill

Distribution

V22 73-distribution-map.jpg

Introduced; Fla., native, paleotropics

Discussion

This species is known from a single population in Dade County, Florida, discovered in 1980. The population was sprayed with herbicide by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1984 because of the potential of the species to be a weed. Its current status is unknown.

Selected References

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Commelina forskaolii"
Robert B. Faden +
petiolate +  and sessile +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
lanceolate-oblong;oblongelliptic +
succulent +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br />) +
Fla. +, native +  and paleotropics +
compressed +
subterranean +
bisexual +, chasmogamous +  and cleistogamous +
Sanitary department landfill +
thyrsiform +  and cymose +
arranged +  and 2-ranked +
cauline +  and basal +
not glaucous +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (?) +
pilose +  and glabrous +
undulate +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br />) +
distinct +
unequal +
Flowering summer–winter. +
anderson1952a +, bolick1981a +, bolick1986a +, brown1984a +, celarier1956a +, correll1968a +, gleason1991a +, hatch1990a +, jones1972a +, lewis1962a +, macroberts1977a +, macroberts1978a +, macroberts1979a +, macroberts1980b +, martin1980a +, small1933a +, spellenberg1979a +, timme1984a +, turner1983b +  and wunderlin1982a +
distinct +
subequal +
not auriculate +
0.7cm;1.5cm +
not falcate +  and inflated +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br />) +
staminodial +
some +  and fertile +
erect +  and ascending +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br />) +
not +  and enlarged +
slender +
Commelina forskaolii +
Commelina +
species +
perennial +  and annual +
herb +  and mat-forming +