iOO Pennell : Plants of the southern United States 



3. Commelina longicaulis J acq. 

 CommeUna longicaulis Jacq. Coll. 3: 234. 1789. "Ad rivulos & 

 in humidis crescit ad Caracas." Description apparently of 

 species here considered, although leaves unusually narrow. 

 Figured in Jacq., Icon. PI. Rar. pi. 2g4. 

 NephraUes parviflora Raf. FI. Tellur. 3: 70. 1837. "Kentucky 

 and Tennessee." Type of the genus NephraUes Raf. /. c. 70- 

 A specimen of Rafinesque's collecting, labeled "Kentucky," 

 and bearing this name, has been seen in the herbarium of 

 Columbia University at the New York Botanical Garden. 

 Commelina diffusa Burm. f. (Fl. Ind. 18. pi. 7.J.2. 1768) is 

 treated as unidentifiable. While conceivably this, if the plant in 

 both hemispheres be identical, the long pedicels, conventional 

 flowers, and description (apparently contradicted by the figure) 

 "involucro nullo" are not in accord with our plant. 



Flowers and fruits, southward throughout the season, north- 

 ward, late summer and autumn. 



Moist loam or sandy soil, along streams, frequently a weed in 

 cultivated ground, from eastern Kentucky and eastern Kansas 

 southward to Bolivia. As usually understood, a widespread 

 species of tropical and subtropical regions. From the few speci- 

 mens seen the writer is not convinced that the plant of the Old 

 World tropics is conspecific with that of the New. Possibly locally 

 or extensively introduced in the United States. 



Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Old Navy Yard, on ballast, 

 Philadelphia, l.Burk (P.). 



Georgia. Catoosa: along Chickamauga Creek, near Ring- 

 gold, > August 6-12, 1895, J. K. Small (Y.). Thomas: along 

 streets, Thomasville, > September 29, 1912, F. W. Pennell 

 4736 (P.). Wilkes: A. W. Chapman (Y.). "Georg.," ricefields, 

 Leconte, sub. nom. "Commelina pestifera Leconte" (A.). 



Florida. Franklin: low grounds, Apalachicola, > July- 

 September, A. W. Chapman [Biltmore herbarium 20380] (Y.). 

 Gadsden: moist ground. River Junction, > September 11, 1897, 

 A. H. Curtiss sqqi (Y.). Lee: river bank, Myers, > July- 

 August, 1900, A. S. Hitchcock 364 (Y.). Leon: Tallahassee, 



> August 7-9, 1895, G. V. Nash 2345 (Y.). Manatee: Osprey, 



> March 3, 1904, B. 11. Smith (A.). Pinellas;- low wet soil, 



