VIRGINIA DAY-FLOWER 
Commelina virginica. Spiderwort Family. 
Ts attractive little petals of the Day-flower un- 
fold but once and endure only for a few 
hours. That is reason enough for its common name, 
but there is quite another story woven about its generic 
title. It seems that Linnzus knew of three brothers, 
Dutchmen, named Commelin, who were botanists. 
Two of the brothers succeeded in publishing the re- 
sults of their labours, but the third brother was a 
worthless sort of a chap, and did not pan out so well. 
The Day-flower, having two large, beautifully devel- 
oped petals, and one small, insignificant, colourless 
one, suggested the application of the Hollanders’ name, 
to whom it was dedicated by the great naturalist. 
The flower is a singular one. The two conspicuous 
petals are of an exceedingly fine texture and _ their 
colour is of the choicest shade of blue—an impres- 
sive blue, that one will always remember as being 
distinctly apart from the general run of floral blues. 
They do not dry and wither up, as do most petals, 
but deliberately shrink into a most hopeless, miser- 
able, sticky pulp. The blossom has two large, showy, 
rounded blue petals that are erect and flaring, earlike, 
from between three unequal sepals. A third petal, 
colourless and inconspicuous, forms a very small 
tongue or lip. Its three perfect stamens are tipped 
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