Taxon:  Commelina benghalensis L.



Summary
Genus:
Commelina
Family:
Commelinaceae
Subfamily:
Commelinoideae
Tribe:
Commelineae
Nomen number:
311531
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 1:41.  1753, nom. cons.
Comment:
conserved (nom. cons.) with a conserved type (Shenzhen ICN Art. 14.9 & App. IV)
Verified:
01/13/1992 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
0 (0  active, 0  available) in National Plant Germplasm System. 
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)
Disseminule drawings\; A-B, E-F: Seeds in two views; C, G: embryos in situ; D, H: transections of seeds <br><font size=-1>Notes: Plant produces dimorphic seeds. Both types are illustrated: A-D, Subterranean seeds; E-H, aerial seeds</font>

Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
  2. PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
  3. Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
  4. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
  5. APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
  6. Babu, C. R. 1977. Herbaceous flora of Dehra Dun.
  7. Backer, C. A. & R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. 1963-1968. Flora of Java.
  8. Bhandari, M. M. 1978. Flora of the Indian desert.
  9. Bond, P. & P. Goldblatt. 1984. Plants of the Cape Flora, J. S. African Bot. suppl. vol. 13.
  10. Brummitt, R. K. 1994. Report of the Committee for Spermatophyta: 41. Taxon 43:275. Note: conservation proposal recommended
  11. CIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988) Note: four books on weeds worldwide in scope
  12. Compton, R. H. 1976. The flora of Swaziland.
  13. Cufodontis, G. 1953-1972. Enumeratio plantarum aethiopiae: Spermatophyta.
  14. Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage
  15. Faden, R. B. 1992. (1052) Proposal to conserve Commelina benghalensis (Commelinaceae) with a conserved type under Art. 69.3. Taxon 41:341.
  16. Faden, R. B. 2000. Commelinaceae. In: FNA Editorial Committee, Flora of North America. 22:196. Note: introduced
  17. Faden, R. B. 2001. The Commelinaceae of northeast Tropical Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya): Diversity and phytogeography. Biol. Skr. 54:230.
  18. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
  19. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
  20. Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
  21. Hara, H. 1966-1975. Flora of eastern Himalaya Note: v. 1:1966, v. 2:1971, v. 3:1975
  22. Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds
  23. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  24. Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953-1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
  25. Li, H. L. et al., eds. 1975-1979. Flora of Taiwan.
  26. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
  27. Matthew, K. M. 1983. The flora of the Tamilnadu Carnatic.
  28. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
  29. Merrill, E. D. 1922-1926. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants.
  30. Merxmüller, H., ed. 1966-1972. Prodromus einer flora von Sudwestafrika.
  31. Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
  32. Ohwi, J. 1965. Flora of Japan (Engl. ed.).
  33. Plant Protection and Quarantine Office. United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Federal noxious weed list (on-line resource).
  34. Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
  35. Ross, J. 1972. The flora of Natal.
  36. Saldanha, C. J. & D. H. Nicolson. 1976. Flora of Hassan district.
  37. Schijff, H. P. van der. 1969. A check-list of the vascular plants of the Kruger national park.
  38. Steward, A. N. 1958. Manual of vascular plants of the lower Yangtze valley.
  39. Täckholm, V. 1974. Students' flora of Egypt, ed. 2.
  40. Van Der Burg, W. J. & E. Bidault. 2020. In: Aubréville, A. et al., eds., Flore du Gabon. 55:19.
  41. Walker, E. 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands.
  42. Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
  43. Yunnan Inst. Bot. & Kunming Inst. Bot. Acad. Sci., eds. 1977-. Flora yunnanica.
Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
EnglishBenghal dayflower  1Plant Protection and Quarantine Office. United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Federal noxious weed list (on-line resource).
Englishdayflower  1Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Englishhairy wandering-Jew this common name may be considered derogatory1Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
EnglishIndian dayflower  1McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Englishwandering-Jew this common name may be considered derogatory1Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Indiakanchura  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Portuguese (Brazil)trapoeraba  2Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Swedishindisk himmelsblomma  2Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya   
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania   
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda   
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaDjibouti   
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEthiopia   
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSomalia   
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi   
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZambia   
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaBotswana  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaEswatini  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaLesotho  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaNamibia  Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaEastern Cape Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaFree State Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaGauteng Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaKwaZulu-Natal Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaLimpopo Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaMpumalanga Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaNorthern Cape Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaNorth-West Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth AfricaWestern Cape Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaBenin   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaCôte D'Ivoire   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGambia   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGhana   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaGuinea   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaNigeria   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaSierra Leone   
1NativeAfricaWest Tropical AfricaTogo   
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCameroon   
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaCongo   
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaRwanda   
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaYemen  Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChina s. 
1NativeAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaJapanHonshu  
1NativeAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaJapanKyushu  
1NativeAsia-TemperateEastern AsiaJapanShikoku  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentBhutan   
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia   
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentNepal  Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentSri Lanka   
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaIndochina   
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesia   
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaPhilippines   
1NativePacificNorthwestern PacificMicronesia   
4Naturalized    widely natzd. elsewhere 
Native
Africa
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Cameroon, Congo, Rwanda
  • WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Benin, Côte D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Malawi, Zambia
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa [Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North-West, Western Cape]
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Yemen
  • CHINA: China (s.)
  • EASTERN ASIA: Japan [Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku]
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan
  • INDO-CHINA: Indochina
  • MALESIA: Indonesia, Philippines
Pacific
  • NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Micronesia
Naturalized (widely natzd. elsewhere)

Reference(s)
  1. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
  2. Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
  3. Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
  4. Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Weedseed contaminantpotentialCIBA-GEIGY, Basel, Switzerland. Documenta CIBA-GEIGY (Grass weeds 1. 1980, 2. 1981; Monocot weeds 3. 1982; Dicot weeds 1. 1988) Note: four books on weeds worldwide in scope
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=311531. Accessed 11 May 2026.