Commelinaceae - Spiderwort family
Obermeyer, A.A. & Faden, R.B. (1985) Commelinaceae Flora of Southern Africa 4(2)
Description of the family
Annual or perennial herbs, often succulent. Leaves alternate with a basal sheath enclosing the stem, often ciliate at the mouth. Inflorescences composed of cymes which may be few or numerous and aggregated into thyrses; sometimes subtended by or enclosed in spathes. Flowers actinomorphic or zygomorphic, bisexual or male, occasionally cleistogamous. Sepals 3. Petals 3, free or united, deliquescent, conspicuous, usually brightly coloured, often blue or yellow. Stamens 6, in 2 whorls; in some genera 1-4 modified into staminodes or suppressed. Style unbranched. Ovary superior, 2-3-locular. Fruit a 2-3-valved capsule, rarely indehiscent. Worldwide: 39 genera and 640 species, occurring in tropical to subtemperate areas. Mozambique: 10 genera and 42 taxa. |
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Links to genera: View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this family
| Genus | Content |
| Aneilema R. Br. | Description, Image |
| Anthericopsis Engl. | Description, Image |
| Coleotrype C.B.Clarke | Description, Image |
| Commelina L. | Description, Image |
| Cyanotis D. Don | Description, Image |
| Floscopa Lour. | Description, Image |
| Murdannia Royle | Description, Image |
| Pollia Thunb. | Description, Image |
| Tradescantia L. | Description |
| Triceratella Brenan | Description, Image |
Other sources of information about Commelinaceae:
Our websites:
Flora of Botswana: CommelinaceaeFlora of Burundi: Commelinaceae
Flora of Caprivi: Commelinaceae
Flora of the DRC: Commelinaceae
Flora of Malawi: Commelinaceae
Flora of Mozambique: cultivated Commelinaceae
Flora of Rwanda: Commelinaceae
Flora of Zambia: Commelinaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: Commelinaceae
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Commelinaceae
External websites:
African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): CommelinaceaeBHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Commelinaceae
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Commelinaceae
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Commelinaceae
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Commelinaceae
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Commelinaceae
JSTOR Plant Science: Commelinaceae
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Commelinaceae
Wikipedia: Commelinaceae
Plants of the World Online: Commelinaceae
Tropicos: Commelinaceae