Family:
Commelinaceae Mirb.
Genus:
Commelina Plum. ex L.

Commelina erecta L.

This species is accepted, and its native range is America, Tropical & S. Africa, Arabian Peninsula. It is used as animal food and a medicine, has environmental uses and social uses and for food.

[UNAL]

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular
ojera, ojito de Santa Lucía, ojo de Santa Lucía, panameña, santalucía, siempreviva, sueldaconsuelda, sueldaquesuelda, sueldasuelda

[FSOM]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Rhizomatous perennial usually 20–50 cm tall; roots fibrous, thin or cord-like, not tuberous
Morphology General Shoots
Shoots erect to ascending, or sometimes prostrate, not rooting
Morphology Leaves
Leaves distichous, sheaths to 2.5 cm long, often auriculate at the apex, puberulous, blade usually sessile, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate-elliptic, elliptic or ovate-elliptic, 5–15 x (0.6–)1–3.7 cm, apex acuminate, base oblique, cuneate, surfaces pubescent to subglabrous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Spathe
Spathes usually clustered, subsessile, 1.5–2.5 x 1–2 cm, usually not or somewhat falcate, occasionally strongly falcate, glabrous to hirsute-puberulous, upper cincinnus lacking, lower several-flowered
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers bisexual and male; paired sepals fused into a cup; paired petals blue, lower petal minute, colourless
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsules c. 2.5–5 x 2.5–6 mm, broader than long when all seeds developed, 3-celled, cells 1-seeded, dorsal cell warty, indehiscent, ventral cells smooth, dehiscent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds of the ventral cell subspherical to transversely ellipsoid, c. 2.5–4 x 2–2.5 mm, testa brown or blackish, smooth, with soft, usually pale patches on the sides or with a whitish torus 3/4 around the circumference of the seed (interrupted by the embryotega), sparsely farinose.
Distribution
N1; C1; S3 widespread in tropical Africa and tropical and temperate America, sometimes treated as pantropical.
Ecology
Altitude range c. 35–1500 m.
Vernacular
Baar (Somali).
Note
It is unclear how widespread this species is in Somalia, because some of the collections may not have been distinguished from the wide-ranging C. albescens. The only collections from S3, are unusually large plants growing in moist situations.

[UPFC]
Distribution
Biogeografic region: Andean, Caribbean, Pacific. Elevation range: 5–2260 m a.s.l. Native to Colombia. Colombian departments: Antioquia, Atlántico, Bogotá DC, Bolívar, Caldas, Chocó, Córdoba, Cundinamarca, Huila, Magdalena, San Andrés y Providencia, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca.
Habit
Herb.
Conservation
IUCN Red List Assessment (2021): LC. National Red List of Colombia (2021): Potential LC.
Ecology
Habitat according IUCN Habitats Classification: forest and woodland, savanna, shrubland, native grassland, wetlands (inland), artificial - terrestrial.
Vernacular
Cadillo, Cohitre, Ojo de santa lucía, Suelda con suelda

[CPLC]

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution
Nativa en Colombia; Alt. 5 - 2260 m.; Andes, Islas Caribeñas, Llanura del Caribe, Pacífico, Valle del Magdalena.
Morphology General Habit
Hierba
Conservation
Preocupación Menor

[UPFC]
Use Animal Food
Used as animal food.
Use Environmental
Environmental uses.
Use Food
Used for food.
Use Medicines
Medical uses.
Use Social
Social uses.

Native to:

Alabama, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Chad, Colombia, Colorado, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Florida, Free State, French Guiana, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Leeward Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Malawi, Mali, Maryland, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mozambique, Namibia, Nebraska, Netherlands Antilles, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Oklahoma, Panamá, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Puerto Rico, Rhode I., Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Carolina, South Dakota, Southwest Caribbean, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Virginia, West Virginia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yemen, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Bangladesh, Chile Central, Japan, Palestine, Spain

Commelina erecta L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Jul 1, 2005 Rico, L. [1385], Bolivia K000295399 No
Gerrard, W.T. [s.n.], South Africa K000345676 holotype Yes
Gill [s.n.], South Africa K000345678 Yes
Cooper, T. [588], South Africa K000345677 Yes
Rico, L.: Vázquez Contreras, S [1005], Mexico K001041605 No

First published in Sp. Pl.: 41 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2005). Monocotyledons and Gymnosperms of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 52: 1-415.
  • Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
  • Brunel, J.F., Hiepo, P. & Scholz, H. (eds.) (1984). Flore Analytique du Togo Phanérogames: 1-751. GTZ, Eschborn.
  • Faden, R. (2012). Commelinaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-244.
  • Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola. Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
  • Hassemer, G. (2018). Taxonomic and geographic notes on the neotropical Commelina (Commelinaceae). Webbia; Raccolta de Scritti Botanici 73: 23-53.
  • Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
  • Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.
  • Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
  • López-Ferrari, A.R., Espejo-Serna, A. & Ceja-Romero, J. (2014). Flora de Veracruz 161: 1-127. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos, Xalapa, Veracruz.
  • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  • Powell, A.M. & Worthington, R.D. (2018). Flowering plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and ajacent areas: 1-1444. BRIT Press.
  • Sarder, N.U. & Hassan, M.A. (eds.) (2018). Vascular flora of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts 1: 1-897. Bangladesh National Herbarium, Dhaka.
  • Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.
  • Velayos, M., Aedo, C., Cabezas, F., de la Estrella, M., Barberá, P. & Fero, M. (eds.) (2014). Flora de Guinea Ecuatorial 11: 1-416. Consejo superior de investigaciones científicas, Real jardín botánico, Madrid.
  • Walderley, M.G.L., Shepherd, G.J., Melhem, T.S. & Giulietti, A.M. (eds.) (2005). Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo 4: 1-392. Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo.
  • de Moura Júnior, E.G. & al. (2015). Updated checklist of aquatic macrophytes from Northern Brazil. Acta Amazonica 45: 111-132.
  • von Raab-Straube, E. & Raus, T. (eds.) (2015). Euro+Med-Checklist notulae, 4. Willdenowia 45: 119-129.

Literature

Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • Fernald in Rnodora 42: 436-441 (1940)
  • J. K. Morton in J. Linn. Soc. 60: 183 (1967).
  • Sp. Pl. 41 (1753)

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
  • Boudet, G., Lebrun, J.P. & Demange, R. (1986). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali: 1-465. Etudes d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux.
  • Brunel, J.F., Hiepo, P. & Scholz, H. (eds.) (1984). Flore Analytique du Togo Phanérogames: 1-751. GTZ, Eschborn.
  • Faden, R. (2012). Commelinaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-244.
  • Gonzalez, F., Nelson Diaz, J. & Lowry, P. (1995). Flora Illustrada de San Andrés y Providencia: 1-281. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Colombia.
  • Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
  • Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
  • Sarder, N.U. & Hassan, M.A. (eds.) (2018). Vascular flora of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts 1: 1-897. Bangladesh National Herbarium, Dhaka.
  • Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.
  • de Moura Júnior, E.G. & al. (2015). Updated checklist of aquatic macrophytes from Northern Brazil. Acta Amazonica 45: 111-132.
  • von Raab-Straube, E. & Raus, T. (eds.) (2015). Euro+Med-Checklist notulae, 4. Willdenowia 45: 119-129.

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, Vol 4, (1995) Author: by R. B. Faden [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. https://doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
  • Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
  • Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
  • Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
  • FPI (2021). Food Plants International. https://fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://foodplantsinternational.com/plants/
  • GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
  • GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.ars-grin.gov/
  • IUCN (2021). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021-2. https://www.iucnredlist.org.
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbodlt (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magnoliophyta_2014
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (2015). Listado de especies de Productos No Maderables del caribe colombiano. 366 registros, aportados por: Garcia, H. (Contacto del Recurso), López Camacho, R. (Creador del recurso), Espitia Palencia, L. (Proveedor del metadatos). Versión 2.0. http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=le_bst-caribe_plantae_2015
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (2019). Lista de especies vedadas por la resolución 213 de 1977. 8256 especies. http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=le_plantaspriorizadas_2019
  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magnoliophyta_2014
  • Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); http://mpns.kew.org/
  • PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. https://prota4u.org/database/
  • Plants for malaria, plants for fever: Medicinal species in Latin America, a bibliographic survey: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Ulian, T., Sacandé, M., Hudson, A., & Mattana, E. (2017). Conservation of indigenous plants to support community livelihoods: the MGU–Useful Plants Project. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 60:668-683.
  • Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

  • Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Colombian resources for Plants made Accessible

    ColPlantA 2021. Published on the Internet at http://colplanta.org
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Flora of Somalia

    Flora of Somalia
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    Copyright applied to individual images

  • Neotropikey

    Milliken, W., Klitgard, B. and Baracat, A. (2009 onwards), Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics.
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Universidad Nacional de Colombia

    ColPlantA database
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0