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Commelina polhillii is a small annual herb from Tanzania, known only from a few districts, that grows in open woodland and disturbed ground. It is a wild species of little horticultural interest, so care is best treated as that of a tender annual Commelina.
Commelina polhillii is a plant species native to Tanzania, known only from the Iriniga and Mpanda Districts. It occurs in open woodlands and in disturbed sites.
Commelina polhillii is an annual herb with ascendent(=reclining for a while then turning upward) to decumbent (=trailing) stems up to 75 cm long. Stems are flattened on one side, sometimes maroon or with maroon stripes. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate, tapering at the tip, up to 12 cm long, sometimes with cilia (=long soft hairs) along the margins. Spathes are solitary, each with 3 or 4 flowers. Sepals are translucent. Petals are buff-orange, kidney-shaped, broader than long, up to 4 mm across. Seeds are rather unusual for the genus: spherical to elliptical with a crater-shaped pit on one side, with a small raised conical point in the middle of the pit.
Commelina acutispatha · African Yellow Dayflower · Jio · Carolina dayflower · Ciliate Dayflower · Asiatic dayflower · Creeping Christian · Birdbill dayflower · Climbing dayflower · Annual Blue Dayflower · Commelina ensifolia · Whitemouth dayflower
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Commelina polhillii 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.
