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Commelina madagascarica
Malagasy Dayflower is a small, bushy, herbaceous species from Madagascar with narrow leaves and delicate, richly blue flowers. It is a grassland plant that resprouts from fleshy roots and a buried rhizome, so it is best grown in a sunny, free-draining spot where it can be kept lean and dry.
Commelina madagascarica is a monocotyledonous, herbaceous plant in the dayflower family from Madagascar. It is commonly known as nifin'akanga in Madagascar, where it is used medicinally as an abortifacient, a galactogogue, and a treatment for conjunctivitis and acne. It is also used for ritual purposes in joro or ancestral invocation around the Lake Alaotra region.
It has delicate, richly blue flowers, narrow leaves, and bushy stems. Its roots are fibrous, fleshy, and fusiform. These roots, and the plant's buried rhizome, make it very resistant to prairie fires.
African Yellow Dayflower · Jio · Asiatic dayflower · Commelina ensifolia · Whitemouth dayflower · Riverine Dayflower · Commelina
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Commelina madagascarica 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.
