SPIDERWORT FAMILY. 375 
1. COMMELINA PSD blayosn| 1753. 
Erect ascending or procumbent, somewhat succulent, branching herbs, with short-peti- 
oled or sessile leaves, and irregular mostly blue flowers in sessile cymes subtended by 
spathe-like bracts. Sepals somewhat unequal, the larger ones sometimes slightly united. 
Petals blue, unequal, 2 of them larger than the third. Perfect stamens 3, rarely 2, one of 
them incurved and-its anther commonly larger. Sterile stamens usually 3, smaller, their 
anthers various. Filaments all glabrous. Capsule 3-celled. Seeds 1 or 2 in each cavity, 
the testa firm, roughened, smooth or reticulated. [Dedicated to Kaspar Commelin, 1667- 
1731, Dutch botanist. | 
About 95 species of wide distribution in warm and temperate regions. Besides the following, 
some 3 others occur in the southern United States. 
Ventral cavities of the ovary 2-ovuled, the dorsal 1-ovuled. 
Capsule 3-celled, commonly 5-seeded. . 
Creeping, glabrous or nearly so; margins of the spathe not united. 1. C. nudiflora, 
Stout, erect, the sheaths bearded; margins of the spathe united. 2. C. hirtella. 
Capsule 2-celled, 4-seeded. 3. C. communis. 
All 3 cavities of the ovary only 1-ovuled. 
Cavities of the capsule all dehiscent. 4. GC. erecta. 
Dorsal cavity of the capsule indehiscent. 5. C. Virginica. 
1. Commelina nudiflora L. Creep- 
ing Day-flower. (Fig. 905.) 
Commelina nudifiora I, Sp. Pl. 41. 1753. 
Commelina communts Walt. Fl. Car. 68. 1788. 
NotL. 1753. 
Commelina agraria Kunth. Enum. 4:38. 1843. 
Glabrous or very nearly so throughout, 
stems procumbent or creeping, rooting at 
the nodes, 1°-2!4° long. Leaves lanceolate 
or ovate-lanceolate, 1/—3’ long, 4’’-8’’ wide, 
acute or acuminate at the apex, their sheaths 
sometimes ciliate; spathe acute or acumi- 
nate, 8/’-12’’ long, peduncled, the 2 bracts 
not united by their margins; flowers few in 
each spathe, 3//-6’’ broad; ventral cells of 
the ovary 2-ovuled, the dorsal 1-ovuled; 
capsule commonly 5-seeded (2 seeds in each 
of the ventral cells, 1 in the dorsal); seeds 
oblong, reticulated, about 1’’ long. 
Along streims and in waste places, New Jer- 
sey to Indiana and Missouri, south to Florida, 
Texas and through tropical America to Para- 
guay. Widely distributed in Asia and Africa. 
July-Oct. 
2. Commelina hirtélla Vahl. Bearded Day-flower. (Fig. 906.) 
Commelina longifolia Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. I: 23. 
1803. Not Iam. 1791. 
Commelina hirtella Vahl. Enum. 2: 166. 1806. 
Commelina erecta A. Gray, Man. Ed. 2. 486. 1856. 
NotI. 1753. 
Stem stout, erect or ascending, 2°-4° high. 
Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, roughish, 4/-7’ 
long, 1/-11¥4’ wide, their sheaths %/-1’ long, 
fringed with rather stiff and long brownish hairs 
and sometimes pubescent; spathes sessile or short- 
peduncled, often clustered at the summits of the 
stem and branches, the 2 bracts acute, united by 
their margins, rather strongly cross-veined; ven- 
tral cells of the ovary 2-ovuled, the other r- 
ovuled; capsule 5-seeded; seeds ellipsoid, brown, 
somewhat more than 1// long, smooth, minutely 
puberulent. 
In moist soil, southern New Jersey to Missouri, 
south to Florida and Texas. Aug.-—Oct. 
