Aneilema COMMELINACEAE Commelina 



184. COMMELINACEAE Spiderwort Family i|{ffi#:£f (Ya Chih Ts'ao K'o) 



Herbs with nodose stems bearing alternate entire often succulent parallel-nerved 

 Ivs. which sheath at the base : fls. perfect, more or less irregular: sepals 3, herbaceous; 

 petals 3, white, purple or yellow; stamens 6, some of them often sterile; anther cells 

 separate; filaments often hairy; ovary superior: fr. a 2-3-celled few- seeded capsule. 37 

 genera with 600 species, tropical and subtropical; 9 genera and over 30 species in 

 China. 



Key to the Genera 



A. Fls. many, in open panicles, not enclosed in a spathe. 



Fr. a loculicidal capsule : stamens 3 or 2 1 . Aneilema 



Fr. indehiscent : stamens 6 2 . Pollia 



AA. Fls. few, more or less enclosed in folded spathe-like bracts. 



Fertile stamens 2 or 3: fls. blue: petals free 3. Commelina 



Fertile stamens 5 or 6: fls. reddish purple: petals united into a slender 



tube 4. Zebrina 



1. Aneilema R. Br. ikttMM (Shui Chu Yeh Shu) 



Infl. in open panicles, not enclosed in spathe-like bracts: fertile stamens usually 

 3: ovary sessile: capsule loculicidal. 100 species, in tropical Asia; 15 in China. (Greek: 

 aneu, without, and eilema, spathe.) 



Key to the Species 



Fls. 1 or 2 in the axils of the upper lvs.: seeds 3 or more in each cell 



of the capsule 1 . A. keisak 



Fls. several in a terminal raceme: seeds 2 in each cell of the capsule.. 2. A. nudiflorum- 



1. Aneilema keisak Hassk. 7}i¥sM (Shui Chu Yeh; Water Bamboo Leaf ) (Mak.F.768). 

 Decumbent, 20-40 cm. high; fls. VIII-IX, blue or pink; Eastern Asia; locally in 

 Che., Ku. Moist ground. Fig. 470. 



2. Aneilema nudiflorum (L.) Wall. (A. malabaricum (L.) Merr.) (M.F.138; AA. J. 18:65). 

 Weak herb, 10-30 cm. high; fls. VIII-IX, pink-purple. Eastern Asia and Malaya; 

 locally in An., Che., Hup. Moist ground. 



2. Pollia Thunb. t±^M (Tu Jo Shu) 



Perennial herbs with erect or ascending stems, rooting at the base, with large 

 ovate-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate lvs. which taper into the sheaths: infl. in stiff 

 umbellate often condensed panicles; fls. nearly regular: perianth segments free; sepals 

 somewhat petaloid; petals white or rose colored, one narrower than the others; stamens 

 6, 3 of them sterile; ovary 3-celled: fr. globular or ovoid, somewhat fleshy, indehiscent, 

 with many angular seeds. 16 species, in the Old World tropics; 2 in China. (Named 

 after Jan van der Poll.) 



1. Pollia japonica Thunb. \±Tf (Tu Jo) (Mak.F.770). Stout, erect, 4-6 dm. high; fls. 

 white, VII-VIII; fr. IX-X. Eastern Asia; locally in An., Che., Hun., Ki. Moist 

 woodland. 



3. Commelina Linn. Day-flower $§jjJg:|r!| (Ya Chih Ts'ao Shu) 

 Fls. emerging one at a time from a terminal folded spathe-like bract and withering 



504 



