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Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis)

In Japan, it is called tsuyukusa (Dew Flower or Dew Herb). Elsewhere, it is widely known as the Asiatic Dayflower, a name derived from the fact that each of its blossoms lasts only one day, though the plant itself produces blossoms from summer through autumn.

Another nickname for tsuyukusa is Mouse Ears. The picture above should make it clear why. Besides the two relatively large blue petals, there is a small white petal that can be seen hanging just in front of the green leaves in the background. As can be seen, tsuyukusa blossoms are not very large. There are two in this photo.

Tsuyukusa are bisexual. Blossoms have three sterile stamens and three fertile stamens, the ones that bear the pollen producing anthers. The ovary is near the junction of the blossom's petals. This photo provides a side view of the blossom. The small white petal is clearly visible.

This shows the anatomy of the blossoms.

The photo below provides perspective about the relative sizes of tsuyukusa blossoms and leaves.

Tsuyukusa seeds.

Use of tsuyukusa for ink: In Japan, cultivated varieties of tsuyukusa were once heavily used to produce a blue pigment for printing color ukiyo-e.

Suzuki Harunobu (1725 – 1770)

Harunobo was the first ukiyo-e artist to apply full-color printing technology to the production of ukiyo-e. These prints were known as nishiki-e (brocade pictures). He was also the first to use tsuyukusa-based inks for the color blue. This can be seen in the garments of the women in Harunobu's bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful people) below.

Suzuki Harunobo used tsuyukusa to achieve the blue color in these garments.

Unfortunately, the color fades to a greenish-yellow within a few months of being exposed to sunlight, so it was eventually replaced. Regardless, ink made from tsuyukusa is still available today.

Torii Kiyonaga (1752 – 1815)

It is thought that Kiyonaga may have studied under Harunobu as well as a number of other ukiyo-e masters. He was considered to be the top bijin-ga artist of his time. He is especially noted for numerous diptych (2-panel) and triptych (3-panel) prints. He is also known for the use of tsuyukusa in his prints. Note that in the diptych below, each of the two panels is a complete and satisfying composition by itself, but together, they form a larger, still unified composition.

Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865)

Kunisada was one of the last great ukiyo-e bijin-ga artists. He did kabuki and sumō prints, too, as well as a few landscapes. The painting below, produced in the 1847 to 1852 time frame, depicts the scene, A Gust of Wind, from Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji), a Heian Period (794 – 1185) novel written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. By the time that this print was produced, tsuyukusa blue had been retired in favor of imported Prussian Blue, a much more color-fast hue.

Kitagawa Utamaro II (1789 – 1830)

The painting below was done by Koikawa Shuncho, a student of Kitagawa Utamaro's, the great ukiyo-e artist of Japanese courtesans. After Utamaro's death in 1806, Shuncho married Utamaro's widow and took Utamaro's name for his own artist's name. His painting style closely matched Utamaro's style, and he signed his artwork the same way, too, creating headaches for modern scholars. Like his master, Utamaro II occasionally produced kachō-ga. It is uncertain when the print below, Flower Arrangements with Morning Glories and Narcissus, was produced.

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858)

Known as the last great master of ukiyo-e landscapes, Hiroshige also painted numerous kachō-ga. One of his series, A Compendium of Flowers of the Four Seasons, includes the fan print below, titled Morning Glories and Cricket, produced in the 1843 to 1847 time frame. The painting's theme is the shortness of life. A summer fan like this one was intended for use in one season only and then be discarded. The life of grasshoppers and morning glories is also very brief. In that way, they resemble tsuyukusa.

Shibata Zeshin (1807 – 1891)

Zeshin was a late Edo Period painter and print maker. His experiments with lacquer as a painting medium led to his reputation today as Japan's greatest lacquerer. As a traditional paint artist, his legacy is mixed. Various critics view him as being too conservative and moving too fast toward Western styles of art. The morning glory print below was produced in 1878.