Commelina COMMELINACEAE-PONTEDERIACEAE Eichornia 



after a single day: petals blue, white or yellow, free; fertile stamens 3; the sterile 

 ones with cross-shaped anthers; filaments glabrous; ovary sessile: fr. 2- or 3-celled. 

 115 species, tropical and subtropical; 7 in China. (After Kaspar, 1667-1731, and 

 Johann, 1629-1698, Commelin, Dutch botanists.) 



Key to the Species 

 Spathe turbinate (open only at the top), pubescent: capsule 3-celled.. 1. C. benghalensis 

 Spathe cordate, folded, glabrous: capsule 2-celled 2. C. communis 



1. Commelina benghalensis Linn. ftMM (Chu Yeh Ts'ai; Bamboo-leaf Plant) (M.F. 

 138). Decumbent, 2-4 dm. high; fls. blue, VII-IX; fr. IX-X. Old World tropics; 

 locally in Hup., Ku. Moist ground. 



2. Commelina communis Linn. Asiatic Day-flower $|j?E^ ( Ya Cnin Ts'ao; Duck- 

 foot Herb) (G.M.392). Creeping herb, 2-4 dm. high; fls. blue, V-IX. Tropical 

 regions, especially eastern Asia; locally in An., Che., Hup., Ki., Ku. Moist ground. 

 Fig. 471. 



Pennell (Phil. Ac. Pr. 90: 36) has keyed and described a number of varieties and foims 

 within the broad concept of C. communis. The two following occur in the Lower Yangtze 

 Valley: 



2a. Commelina communis exserta Pennell (Phil.Ac.Pr.90:36). Northeastern Asia; 



Che. Fls. long-exserted. 

 2b. Commelina communis ludens (Miq.) Clarke (Phil.Ac.Pr.90:37). Japan, China; 



An., Ku. Fls. included or shortly-exserted. 



4. Zebrina Schnizl. ISJS^M (Pan Ma Ts'ao Shu) 



Fls. clustered between tivo folded bracts: petals united into a tube longer than the 

 calyx, reddish purple; stamens 6, equal; ovary 3-celled: fr. 6-seeded. Two species, 

 Mexico, New Mexico and Texas; one cultivated in China. (Latin: zebra, referring to 

 the striped leaves.) 



1. Zebrina pendula Schnizl. Wandering Jew (B.M. 198). Decumbent herb; fls. white 

 and purple, IX. Mexico; locally in Ku. Planted, ornamental. 



185. PONTEDERIACEAE Pickerel Weed Family 

 M^VcPt (Yu Chiu Hua K'o) 

 Aquatic or marsh herbs, glabrous, erect or floating: lvs. petioled and with thick 

 blades or long and grass-like: fls. perfect, in spikes or racemes from the sheath of 

 the upper If., more or less irregular: perianth 6-parted, corolloid, blue, marcescent; 

 stamens 1-6, often unequal, on the base of the perianth; ovary superior: fr., a 3-celled 

 capsule or a utricle. 6 genera with 28 species, in warm countries; 2 genera and 5 

 species in China. 



Key to the Genera 



Perianth funnel-shaped : floating plants 1 . Eichornia 



Perianth of nearly separate segments: marsh plants 2. Monochoria 



1. Eichornia Kunth JIB&jIM (Feng Yien Lien Shu) 

 Floating, rooting at the nodes: lvs. usually obovate or cordate: perianth funnel- 



505 



