Code
COMNG
Growth form
Broad leaf
Biological cycle
Annual
Habitat
Terrestrial
COMNG
Growth form
Broad leaf
Biological cycle
Annual
Habitat
Terrestrial
🗒 Synonyms
| No Data |
🗒 Common Names
| No Data |
📚 Overview
Description
Global description
Commelina nigritana var. gambiae is an erect plant more or less branched, with linear to lanceolate leaves. The stem has a densely hispid groove. The flowers are yellow apricot, grouped in solitary spathes arranged at the nodes of the terminal axes. The spathes are pedunculate, hirsute on the faces, while the edges are smooth. The lips are connate at the back to the peduncle. The kidney-shaped seeds have the cross-linked surface.
Cotyledon
The cotyledon is not apparent because it remains in the seed.
First leaf
The first sheet is linear. It is 3 cm long and 5 mm wide. The lower part forms a leafy sheath whose margin is provided with multicellular hairs.
General habit
The plant is erected in a single or branched axis. The plant is 10 to 60 cm tall.
Underground system
The roots are fasciculate at the base of the plant. Some roots can also be emitted from the lower nodes of the plant. They are fibrous, 1 mm in diameter and 10 to 20 cm long.
Stem
The stem is cylindrical ridged and has a longitudinal groove, in the axis of the opening of the leaf sheath, trimmed with multicellular hairs.
Leaf
The leaves are alternate, of linear to lanceolate shape. They are 5 to 9 cm long and 5 to 10 mm wide. The veins are alternating at the starting point and parallel to the central vein. The base of the blade forms a leafy sheath around the stem. The margin of this sheath is lined with multicellular hairs. The margin of the limb is slightly scabrous. The upper and lower faces are covered with hairs, sparse to dense.
Flower
The flowers are grouped by 2 or 3 in a leafy spathe triangular. These spathes are inserted solitarily in the axil of a leafy bract, at the nodes of the terminal axes. There are no more than 1 to 3 spathes per branch. The spathe is 15 to 20 mm long. It has a tapered base tapering into a long peduncle (5 to 15 mm long) dotted with hair. The lips are connate at the back of the spathe and are truncated, while the front fades to a sharp and long corner. The faces of the spathe have erect multicellular hairs, while the edges are smooth. The flowers, 1 cm in diameter, are yellow apricot. They have 3 petals of which one is extremely reduced. The other two are rounded and abruptly filiform at the base. The flowers bloom in the morning between 9 and 11 o'clock.
Fruit
The fruit is a capsule with 2 dorsal boxes dehiscent (the ventral box has aborted). There may be 1 to 3 capsules per spathe.
Seed
The seeds are 4 in number per capsule (2 seeds per box). The seeds have a kidney shape. They are 2.5 to 3 mm long. They are orange in color and have a densely reticulated, gridded surface.
Commelina nigritana var. gambiae is an erect plant more or less branched, with linear to lanceolate leaves. The stem has a densely hispid groove. The flowers are yellow apricot, grouped in solitary spathes arranged at the nodes of the terminal axes. The spathes are pedunculate, hirsute on the faces, while the edges are smooth. The lips are connate at the back to the peduncle. The kidney-shaped seeds have the cross-linked surface.
Cotyledon
The cotyledon is not apparent because it remains in the seed.
First leaf
The first sheet is linear. It is 3 cm long and 5 mm wide. The lower part forms a leafy sheath whose margin is provided with multicellular hairs.
General habit
The plant is erected in a single or branched axis. The plant is 10 to 60 cm tall.
Underground system
The roots are fasciculate at the base of the plant. Some roots can also be emitted from the lower nodes of the plant. They are fibrous, 1 mm in diameter and 10 to 20 cm long.
Stem
The stem is cylindrical ridged and has a longitudinal groove, in the axis of the opening of the leaf sheath, trimmed with multicellular hairs.
Leaf
The leaves are alternate, of linear to lanceolate shape. They are 5 to 9 cm long and 5 to 10 mm wide. The veins are alternating at the starting point and parallel to the central vein. The base of the blade forms a leafy sheath around the stem. The margin of this sheath is lined with multicellular hairs. The margin of the limb is slightly scabrous. The upper and lower faces are covered with hairs, sparse to dense.
Flower
The flowers are grouped by 2 or 3 in a leafy spathe triangular. These spathes are inserted solitarily in the axil of a leafy bract, at the nodes of the terminal axes. There are no more than 1 to 3 spathes per branch. The spathe is 15 to 20 mm long. It has a tapered base tapering into a long peduncle (5 to 15 mm long) dotted with hair. The lips are connate at the back of the spathe and are truncated, while the front fades to a sharp and long corner. The faces of the spathe have erect multicellular hairs, while the edges are smooth. The flowers, 1 cm in diameter, are yellow apricot. They have 3 petals of which one is extremely reduced. The other two are rounded and abruptly filiform at the base. The flowers bloom in the morning between 9 and 11 o'clock.
Fruit
The fruit is a capsule with 2 dorsal boxes dehiscent (the ventral box has aborted). There may be 1 to 3 capsules per spathe.
Seed
The seeds are 4 in number per capsule (2 seeds per box). The seeds have a kidney shape. They are 2.5 to 3 mm long. They are orange in color and have a densely reticulated, gridded surface.
Thomas Le Bourgeois
| Attributions | |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
There is content in another language. Please click here to read it. (Français)
No Data
📚 Nomenclature and Classification
No Data
📚 Natural History
Life Cycle
Northern Cameroon: Germination occurs from June to August. Its triggering is mainly related to the arrival of the rains and intervenes when they are regular. The flowering period is from July to October. The fructification begins in August and lasts until the plant dries out in the early dry season (November).
Thomas Le Bourgeois
| Attributions | |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
There is content in another language. Please click here to read it. (Français)
Look Alikes
Commelina nigritana var. gambiae can be easily confused with C. subulata. These two species are erect plants more or less branched, bearing linear to lanceolate leaves. The flowers are yellow apricot, grouped in solitary spathes arranged at the nodes of the terminal axes. The kidney-shaped seeds have the cross-linked surface.
In C. nigritana var. gambiae the stem has a densely hispid groove. The spathes are pedunculate, hirsute on the faces, while the edges are smooth. The lips are connate at the back to the peduncle. While in C. subulata the stem is glabrous, the spathes are subsessile, glabrous on the faces and finely ciliated on the edges, the lips are free at the back to the peduncle.
In C. nigritana var. gambiae the stem has a densely hispid groove. The spathes are pedunculate, hirsute on the faces, while the edges are smooth. The lips are connate at the back to the peduncle. While in C. subulata the stem is glabrous, the spathes are subsessile, glabrous on the faces and finely ciliated on the edges, the lips are free at the back to the peduncle.
| Blue flowers | spathe (*) open | Glabrous sheath | Commelina diffusa | |
| Pubescent sheath | Commelina diffusa subsp. scandens | |||
| spathe (*) fused at the base | Sheath of leaves without oreillette | Red hairs on the sheath, stalked leaf, wavy and more than 20 mm wide | Commelina benghalensis | |
| No red hairs on the sheath, sessile leaf, leaf wavy and narrow, less than 20 mm wide | Commelina forskaolii | |||
| sheath of leaves elongated by two oreillettes | Leaf very elongated, white hairs on the margin and auricles |
Commelina erecta | ||
| Leaf as large as longue, reddish stem | Commelina lagosensis | |||
| fYellow to pink flowers | spathe (*) fused at the base | Commelina nigritana | ||
| spathe (*) open | Leaves very narrow (4 mm) | Commelina subulata | ||
| Leaves lanceolate | Glabrous sheath | Commelina africana var. africana | ||
| Pubescente sheath | Commelina africana var. krebsiana | |||
Thomas Le Bourgeois
| Attributions | |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
There is content in another language. Please click here to read it. (Français)
Ecology
Northern Cameroon: Commelina nigritana var. gambiae grows on well-structured ferruginous soils. It is a species of Sudanian zone with an annual rainfall of between 1000 and 1500 mm. It grows mainly in newly cleared, traditionally grown plots, especially without the use of pre-emergent herbicides.
Thomas Le Bourgeois
| Attributions | |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
There is content in another language. Please click here to read it. (Français)
No Data
📚 Habitat and Distribution
General Habitat
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Worldwide distribution
Commelina nigritana var. gambiae is present throughout the Sudanian zone of Africa. It is widespread in eastern and southern African countries.
Commelina nigritana var. gambiae is present throughout the Sudanian zone of Africa. It is widespread in eastern and southern African countries.
Thomas Le Bourgeois
| Attributions | |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
No Data
📚 Occurrence
No Data
📚 Demography and Conservation
Risk Statement
Local harmfulness
Northern Cameroon: Commelina nigritana var. gambiae is infrequent and never abundant.
Northern Cameroon: Commelina nigritana var. gambiae is infrequent and never abundant.
Thomas Le Bourgeois
| Attributions | |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
There is content in another language. Please click here to read it. (Français)
No Data
📚 Uses and Management
📚 Information Listing
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
Thomas Le Bourgeois
| Attributions | |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
There is content in another language. Please click here to read it. (Français)
References
- Berhaut J., 1967. Flore du Sénégal. 2ème éd. Clairafrique éd., Dakar, Sénégal, 485p.
- Le Bourgeois Th., 1993. Les mauvaises herbes dans la rotation cotonnière au Nord-Cameroun (Afrique) - Amplitude d'habitat et degré d'infestation - Cycle de développement. Thèse USTL Montpellier II, Montpellier, France, 241p.
- Le Bourgeois, T. and H. Merlier (1995). Adventrop - Les adventices d'Afrique soudano-sahélienne. Montpellier, France, Cirad. 637p.
- Hutchinson J., Dalziel J. M., Keay R. W. J. & Hepper F. N., 1968. Flora of West Tropical Africa. Vol. III part. 1. 2ème éd. The Whitefriars Press ed., London & Tonbridge, 276p.
Information Listing > References
- Berhaut J., 1967. Flore du Sénégal. 2ème éd. Clairafrique éd., Dakar, Sénégal, 485p.
- Le Bourgeois Th., 1993. Les mauvaises herbes dans la rotation cotonnière au Nord-Cameroun (Afrique) - Amplitude d'habitat et degré d'infestation - Cycle de développement. Thèse USTL Montpellier II, Montpellier, France, 241p.
- Le Bourgeois, T. and H. Merlier (1995). Adventrop - Les adventices d'Afrique soudano-sahélienne. Montpellier, France, Cirad. 637p.
- Hutchinson J., Dalziel J. M., Keay R. W. J. & Hepper F. N., 1968. Flora of West Tropical Africa. Vol. III part. 1. 2ème éd. The Whitefriars Press ed., London & Tonbridge, 276p.
Images
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Herbarium pictures ReCOLNAT: https://explore.recolnat.org/search/botanique/simplequery=Commelina%2520nigritana%2520var.%2520gambiae
Thomas Le Bourgeois
| Attributions | |
| Contributors | |
| Status | UNDER_CREATION |
| Licenses | CC_BY |
| References |
No Data
🐾 Taxonomy
| Root | Root |
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
| Class | Liliopsida |
| Order | Commelinales |
| Family | Commelinaceae |
| Genus | Commelina |
| Species | Commelina nigritana var. gambiae (C.B.Clarke) Brenan |
📊 Temporal Distribution
📷 Related Observations
