Commelina tuberosa
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{speciesbox
|image = Commelina tuberosa JPG1.jpg
|genus = Commelina
|species = tuberosa
|authority = L., 1753{{cite book |author=Linnaeus |year=1753 |chapter=Commelina |title=Species Plantarum |pages=40–42 |chapter-url=http://www.botanicus.org/page/358061 |language=la}}
}}
Commelina tuberosa is an herbaceous perennial plant in the dayflower family which is native to Mexico but grown worldwide as an ornamental plant.{{Cite web |title=Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/?name_id=234245 |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}{{cite book | author=Huxley, A. | title=The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening | year=1992 | publisher= MacMillan Press|ISBN=0-333-47494-5}}{{cite book | author=Pink, A. | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11892|title=Gardening for the Million| year=2004 | publisher=Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation}} 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.{{Citation| last =Hunt| first =D. R.| contribution = Commelinaceae| year = 1994| title = Flora Mesoamericana | editor-last =Davidse| editor-first =Gerrit| editor2-last=Sousa Sánchez| editor2-first=Mario| editor-last3=Chater| editor-first3=Arthur Oliver| volume =6| pages =173| publisher =Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México }} 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.{{citation|title=The European Garden Flora, Flowering Plants|volume=1|last=Cullen|first=James|last2=Knees|first2=Sabina G.|last3=Cubey|first3=H. Suzanne|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2011|edition=2|isbn=978-0-521-76167-3|page=319}}
The Coelestis Group is a cultivar group of Commelina tuberosa which is grown ornamentally. Growing to {{convert|50|cm|in|abbr=on}} tall by {{convert|100|cm|in|abbr=on}} broad, it flowers in summer and autumn. Being a warm temperate plant which dislikes temperatures below {{convert|-5|C|F|abbr=on}}, in cooler areas it must be lifted and stored in the winter months. It prefers a sunny or partially shaded sheltered spot in the garden.{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/43653/Commelina-tuberosa-Coelestis-Group/Details | title = Commelina tuberosa Coelestis Group | publisher = RHS | access-date = 28 June 2021}}
References
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Category:Plants described in 1753
Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Category:Endemic flora of Mexico
{{Commelinales-stub}}