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Commelina

Commelina tuberosa

Also called Blue Spiderwort, Tuberous Dayflower

Commelina
Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 3.0

Commelina tuberosa is a tuberous perennial from Mexico and Central America, grown for its bright blue flowers. It does best in a sunny spot with well-drained soil and fairly little water.

Family
Commelinaceae (Spiderwort family)
Grows as
Bulb, Perennial
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly during active growth and let the soil dry a little between waterings; reduce water in dormancy.
Soil
Well-drained, moderately fertile soil or a loam-based mix.
Temperature
18–30 °C; protect below 5 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Mexico to C. America, Peru to NW. Argentina
Climate
subtropical

About

Commelina tuberosa is an herbaceous perennial plant in the dayflower family which is native to Mexico but grown worldwide as an ornamental plant. It is characterized by its purple-splotched spathes with free margins, its bright blue petals of equal size, its tuberous roots, and its four to ten flowered lower cymes. In the wild, it is encountered in moist fields, open forests, or pine-oak forests. The species is sometimes considered to include the species Commelina coelestis, Commelina dianthifolia, and Commelina elliptica, such as in the Flora Mesoamericana. When these are treated as separate, they are often referred to as the "Commelina tuberosa complex". Horticulturally, the species are often treated as separate entities because of their differing habits and leaf shapes. In this sense, Commelina tuberosa is a low-growing plant with long narrow leaves.

Other Commelina plants

African Yellow Dayflower · Jio · Asiatic dayflower · Commelina ensifolia · Whitemouth dayflower · Riverine Dayflower · Malagasy Dayflower

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Commelina tuberosa 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.

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