Erect Dayflower, Slender Dayflower, White-Mouth Dayflower

Commelina erecta L.

Commelinaceae (Spiderwort Family)

▲▼ flowers. with very small lower white petal

▲▼ flowers, showing sheath closed on side toward stem

▲▼ colony near Republic, MO

▲▼ leaf and stem characteristics

▲▼ leaves, showing narrower leaves

▲▼ leaves, showing narrower leaves

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

Erect Dayflower:

• · An annual or perennial weed with upright and spreading stems that roots at nodes to spread; native to the U.S.

  · Leaves narrower than other species, with white hairs on sheath margins, and sometimes fine hairs on leaf surface

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

  · The boat-shaped spathes are closed on the side toward the stem, but open on the other side; the spathes are often covered with tiny, soft hairs; similar Asiatic dayflower and spreading dayflower spathes are open on both sides/ends