Whitemouth dayflower (Commelina erecta) is a low perennial herb with blue flowers, two large blue petals and one small white petal, found across the Americas, Africa and western Asia. It thrives in part shade and moist soil, and is often a weed in disturbed ground.
Family
Commelinaceae (Spiderwort family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep soil moist, especially in dry seasons, but avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Ordinary, moisture-retentive soil; tolerates a range of soil types.
Temperature
Warm conditions, roughly 18–30 °C; frost-tender.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Native range
America, Trop. & S. Africa, Arabian Pen.
Climate
seasonally dry tropical
About
Commelina erecta, commonly known as white mouth dayflower, slender dayflower, or widow's tears. C. erecta is a blue flower often recognized by its two large blue petals and smaller white petal. It is a perennial herb common across the world and native throughout the Americas, Africa and western Asia.
Where it grows
Commelina erecta is native to much of the world, including the Americas, Africa and western Asia. In the Americas it is present in the United States, the West Indies, every country of Central America and south through the tropics into Argentina. In the United States it can be found from South Dakota and Pennsylvania down to Florida and Texas.
Uses
C. erecta is a wild edible plant and is consumed by many groups of people across its distribution. It is also used as a traditional medicine is some groups. C. erecta is commonly consumed and used as a traditional medicine in Brazil, and analysis of its bioactive compounds shows that can act as an antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory agent.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Commelina erecta by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.