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Commelina welwitschii
Commelina welwitschii is a small herbaceous dayflower from southern Africa (Angola to Zimbabwe) with yellow flowers and bead-like underground rhizomes. It is a wild species rather than a common garden plant, so care guidance is general and based on its close relatives.
Commelina welwitschii is an herbaceous plant in the dayflower family found in Southern Africa from Zimbabwe to Angola. A phylogenetic study based on the nuclear ribosomal DNA region 5S NTS and the chloroplast region trnL-trnF, two commonly used gene regions for determining relationships, revealed that Commelina welwitschii forms a clade with Commelina purpurea and Commelina fluviatilis. Both of these relatives are African, share an unusual leaf anatomy, and have linear leaves that are often folded. Although it has yellow flowers, this study did not find a close relationship with Commelina capitata or Commelina africana, the two other African yellow-flowered species. Robert Faden, an expert on the Commelinaceae, points out that Commelina welwitschii is one of only three species in the genus to have bead-like rhizomes along with Commelina crassicaulis and Commelina sphaerorrhizoma.
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 welwitschii 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.
