Commelina diffusa Burm.f.

Family: Commelinaceae

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Commelinales > Commelinaceae > Commelina > C. diffusa

Common name [English]: Creeping dayflower

Vernacular name [Malayalam]: വാഴപ്പടത്തി

Nativity: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China; Guyana, India

Habitat: found in damp shady places near water but also found in open swamps and marshes and sometimes found floating in mats.

Description: Trailing or diffuse herbs. Leaves 2-6 x 0.8-2 cm, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, base obtuse, apex acute or acuminate; sheath 1-2 cm long, ciliate. Peduncle 0.8-1.5 cm long, ovate-lanceolate, base subcordate, complicate. Sepals c. 3 mm long. Petals blue, c. 4 mm long. Stamens and staminodes naked. Capsule to 8 mm long, oblong, 3-celled, apex beaked. Seeds c. 2 mm, tuberculate and reticulate.

Flowering and Fruiting: July - September

Uses: Folk medicine, Traditional Chinese medicine

Cultivation: Wild

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org