Commelina mascarenica

Commelina mascarenica
Commelina mascarenica inflorescence and flower; plant collected in Somalia, but growing in a greenhouse
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Commelinales
Family:	Commelinaceae
Subfamily:	Commelinoideae
Tribe:	Commelineae
Genus:	Commelina
Species:	C. mascarenica
Binomial name
Commelina mascarenica C.B. Clarke

Commelina mascarenica is a monocotyledonous, herbaceous plant in the dayflower family from East Africa. This pale blue-flowered herb is found in a variety of open habitats from open bush to roadsides. Although the species was originally thought to be restricted to Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, further study revealed that the species is also widely distributed along the East African coast from Somalia south to Mozambique. It had formerly been confused with the closely related species Commelina imberbis and Commelina lukei, the latter occurring alongside C. mascarenica throughout much of its range.^[1][2]

References

1. Faden, Robert B. (2008), "Commelina mascarenica (Commelinaceae), an overlooked Malagasy species in Africa" (PDF), Adansonia, 3 30 (1): 47–55
2. Faden, Robert B. (2008), "New Species of Commelina (Commelinaceae) from East and South-central Africa", Novon 18 (4): 469–479, doi:10.3417/2007025