Asiatic Dayflower

Commelina communis L.

Commelinaceae (Spiderwort Family)

▲▼ large colony in a flower bed in Illinois

▲▼ flowers and stems

▲ flower showing spathe open on both sides

▲ flower detail, showing 3 petals

▲▼leaves and flowering stems on a colony in Missouri

▲▼ leaf collar region, showing a few short hairs

Dayflowers:

• Several species present in Missouri, some are summer annuals, but some species are perennial here, with creeping roots and stems rooting at the nodes

• Are monocots in the Spiderwort (Commelinaceae) Family

• All have light-green to dark green, alternate, oval-pointed leaves with parallel veins (is a monocot) in the Spiderwort (Commelinaceae) Family

• All have small, blue flowers that have two deep blue upper petals (and sometimes one much-smaller white lower petal); flowers are in little boat-shaped spathes (sepal-like structures) in the axils of the leaves;

• Can reproduce by seed and vegetative means—cut stems can root readily in moist ground

• Prefers moist, fertile soil—gardens, cultivated fields—but also will grow on roadsides, non-crop areas

• Has a sprawling growth habit—long stems can create a tangled web in gardens, flower beds

• Is related to several houseplant species—wandering jew, inch plant—and the native perennial spiderwort

Asiatic Dayflower:

• An annual weed, invasive in summer annual crops, native to Asia

• Can have upright or sprawling stems, and may have rough white hairs on leaf surfaces

• On this species, there are 3 petals (two upper, large, blue; one lower, very small, white); creeping or spreading dayflower lacks the lower white petal

• The boat-shaped spathes are open on both ends (not closed on one end)—sort of like a taco; ; erect dayflower spathes are closed on the side toward the stem

• The inner part of the leaf sheath where it joins the stem is somewhat hairy