Commelina erecta
Slender Day-Flower
a perennial member of the Commelina genus in the family Commelinaceae.
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Commelinaceae
- Genus
- Commelina
- Life cycle
- perennial
- Height
- 1.2 m
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
Uses
Edible uses
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
- Plant part
- Root
Environment
- Range
- South-eastern N. America - Pennsylvania to Florida and Texas.
- Habitat
- Loamy or sandy soils or rocky slopes in woods and openings[8].
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- light shade
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- Zone 9+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Drainage
- well drained
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed - sow March in a greenhouse. The seed usually germinates in 4 - 5 weeks at 20°c[3]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots plant them out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in early spring. Make sure that each portion has at least one growing bud[111, K]. Cuttings during the growing season. Very easy[5].
Cultivation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Prefers a light well-drained loam with added leafmold[1][7]. Succeeds in an ordinary, reasonably moist soil in a sunny position with some shelter[3]. A polymorphic plant[5]. This species is not very winter hardy, the roots are best dug up in autumn and stored like dahlias in a cool frost free place and then planted out in spring[5]. When grown in a light well-drained soil and mulched well, the roots usually survive the winter outdoors[1].
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00
Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan. 1990-00-00
Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Diggs, Jnr. G.M.; Lipscomb. B. L. & O'Kennon. R. J Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas Botanical Research Institute, Texas. 1999-00-00 http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/bio/gdiggs/NCTXpdf.htm
Grey. C. H. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate. 1938-00-00
Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950-00-00