Commelina sphaerorrhizoma
| Commelina spaerorrhozoma | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Commelinales |
| Family: | Commelinaceae |
| Subfamily: | Commelinoideae |
| Tribe: | Commelineae |
| Genus: | Commelina |
| Species: | C. sphaerorrhizoma |
| Binomial name | |
|
Commelina sphaerorrhizoma Faden & Layton |
|
Commelina sphaerorrhizoma is a monocotyledonous, herbaceous plant in the dayflower family from south-central Africa. This blue-flowered herb has been recorded from western Zambia, central Angola, and the southern portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, although at the time of its description it was known only from 11 collections and may be more broadly distributed. It is found in a variety of habitats ranging from woodlands to grasslands to roadsides. The plant's most distinctive feature and the source of its scientific name is its moniliform rhizome composed of spherical segments that can form a bead-like chain. Other distinguishing characteristics include glaucous leaves with clasping bases, unfused and virtually hairless spathes, capsules composed of three, one-seeded locules, and very large seeds with a hairy surface.
Commelina sphaerorrhizoma was first described in 2009 in the Belgian journal Systematics and Geography of Plants along with Commelina rosulata and Commelina orchidophylla. However, the species was first collected in 1906 by John Gossweiler, an important botanical explorer in Angola. Despite this, the plant was not mentioned in scientific literature until Walter H. Lewis published a chromosome count in 1964, referring to it as "Commelina sp. 5".
It is unclear which of the other 170 or so species of Commelina is closely related to Commelina sphaerorrhizoma, if any. Only two other species of Commelina, namely Commelina welwitschii and Commelina crassicaulis, have rhizomes similar to Commelina sphaerorrhizoma. While both of these species also have free, unfused spathe margins, most other features, including flower color and seed morphology, are quite different. Furthermore, similarity in vegetative morphology, such as the type of roots, has never been known to indicate relationships in the genus.
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