Commelina
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Commelinaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Genus Description - Perennial or annual herbs, sometimes with tuberous roots. Leaves sessile or short-petiolate, usually with oblique bases. Flowers bisexual and/or staminate, 3-merous, zygomorphic, in single or paired cymes enclosed by a spathaceous bract, a few species with subterranean cleistogamous flowers; sepals unequal, free, the outermost one hood-shaped; petals blue or variously colored, unequal, the upper 2 clawed; stamens 6, 3 of which are fertile with ellipsoid to saddle-shaped anthers, the others modified into staminodes with X-shaped anthers, the filaments glabrous; ovary sessile, 2-3-locular, ovules 1 or 2 per locule. Fruit a dry dehiscent capsule; seeds smooth or variously patterned, with a linear hilum.
Distribution and Ecology - A cosmopolitan genus of about 170 species.