COMMELINACEAE 



SPIDERWORT FAMILY 



DAY FLOWER 



Commelina communis L. 



Although the Day Flower is a dooryard weed, its pretty 

 though small flowers should be familiar to everyone. The 

 plant is common in alluvial soil from southern New York to 

 Florida, west to Kansas 

 and Texas, and has been 

 reported northeastward 

 to Massachusetts. 



Its stems are slender 

 and creeping, sometimes 

 rooting at the nodes. 

 They are smooth or 

 nearly so, and grow 1-3 

 feet long. The leaves 

 are also smooth, and 

 their bases, thin and 

 white with green veins, 

 form sheaths about the 

 stem. The upper leaves 

 are folded in such a way 

 as to form a spathe en- 

 closing the flowers. 



Each of the deep 

 blue flowers opens only 

 one morning. The pedi- 

 cel, curved downward so 

 that the bud is nodding, 

 straightens up while the 

 flower is in bloom and 

 curves down again after- 

 wards. The 3 sepals are somewhat unequal in size and the 2 

 larger are often slightly united. The 3 petals are also unequal, 

 2 large and i small. Of the 3 perfect stamens i is curved forward 

 and has a large anther. There are an additional 3 imperfect 

 stamens which are smaller and have cross-shaped anthers but 

 produce no pollen. There is i pistil with an undivided style and 

 stigma. The fruit is a 2-celled capsule with 2 dark, brown, 

 compressed and roughened seeds in each cell. 



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