Commelina eckloniana

Commelina eckloniana is an herbaceous plant in the dayflower family with a broad distribution in Central and East Africa. It ranges from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania in the east, west through Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Malawi, into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. It is considered one of the most diverse species in Africa. Its distinctive characteristics include a fused spathe with sparse hairs, blue flowers with bilocular ovaries, and nearly square fruits containing four seeds that are roughly spherical. It currently contains five subspecies, and at times has been split into five separate species that mostly correspond to the currently recognised subspecies. However, some of the subspecies may be functioning as species, and further study is needed to resolve the question of species limits in this group.[7]

Subspecies[8]
  1. Commelina eckloniana subsp. claessensii (De Wild.) Faden - Zaïre, Uganda
  2. Commelina eckloniana subsp. critica (De Wild.) Faden - Zaïre, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi
  3. Commelina eckloniana subsp. echinosperma (K.Schum.) Faden - Zaïre, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia
  4. Commelina eckloniana subsp. eckloniana - Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland
  5. Commelina eckloniana subsp. nairobiensis (Faden) Faden - Kenya
  6. Commelina eckloniana subsp. thikaensis Faden - Kenya

Commelina eckloniana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Commelinales
Family: Commelinaceae
Genus: Commelina
Species:
C. eckloniana
Binomial name
Commelina eckloniana
Kunth, 1843 [1]
Synonyms
  • Commelina claessensii De Wild.[2]
  • Commelina critica De Wild.[3]
  • Commelina echinosperma K.Schum.[4]
  • Commelina echinulata Lebrun & Taton[5]
  • Commelina nairobiensis Faden[6]

References
  1. Kunth, Karl Sigismund (1843). "Commelyna". Enumeratio Plantarum Omnium Hucusque Cognitarum. Stuttgart: J.G. Cott. pp. 35–61.
  2. de Wildeman, Emile Auguste Joseph (1931). Plantae Bequaertianae, Études sur les Récoltes Botaniques du Dr. J. Bequaert, Chargé de Missions au Congo Belge (1913–1915). 5. Gand: J. Lechevalier. p. 173.
  3. de Wildeman, É. (1930). "Commelina". Contribution à l'étude de la Flore du Katanga, Supplément (PDF) (in French). 3. Bruxelles: D. Van Keerberghen. pp. 60–86.
  4. Schumann, Karl Moritz (1895). "Commelinaceae". In Engler, Adolf (ed.). Die Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas und der Nachbargebiete (in German). C. Berlin: D. Reimer. pp. 134–137.
  5. Lebrun, Jean; Taton, A.; Toussaint, L. (1948). Exploration du Parc National de la Kagera: Mission J. Lebrun (1937-1938). 1. Bruxelles: Institut des parcs nationaux du Congo belge. p. 28. OCLC 496042608.
  6. Faden, Robert B. (1994). "New Species of Commelina (Commelinaceae) from the Flora of Tropical East Africa". Novon. 4 (3): 224–235. doi:10.2307/3391646. JSTOR 3391646.
  7. Faden, Robert B. (2012), "Commelinaceae", in Beentje, Henk (ed.), Flora of Tropical East Africa, Richmond, Surrey: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, pp. 182–187, ISBN 978 1 84246 436 6
  8. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
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