Martha's exotic Backyard in Israel

Commelina communis, Asiatic dayflower, Widow's Tears,
קומלינה , דמעות האלמנה

Scientific name:  Commelina communis L.
Common name:   Asiatic dayflower, Widow's Tears
Hebrew name:   קומלינה, דמעות האלמנה
Family:  Commelinaceae, קומליניים

Flores em Israel, flores exóticas

Life form:  Herbaceous annual plant
Stems:  Decumbent, glabrous basally, puberulent towards the extremities; diffusely branched
Leaves:  Lanceolate, or lance-shaped, to ovate-elliptic, between egg-shaped and ellipse-shaped.
Inflorescence:  Often bracted; many inflorescences; a single inflorescence usually has 4 flower buds per bract; single flower opens at sunrise each day and lasts until noon
Flowers:  Actinomorphic; 3 petals, upper 2 petals round, bright blue; lower petal much smaller, white, notched into 3 rounded lobes; 3types of stamen: 2 long brown stamens, 1 medium-lenght yellow stamen, 3 short yellow stamens;
Fruits / pods:  Capsule, dehiscent, 2-valved, ellipsoid with 2-locular; glabrous, brown; seeds brown, brownish-yellow; rugose pitted-reticulate
Flowering Period:  July, August, September
Habitat:  Cultivated Beds
Origin:  E. Asia - S. China, Japan, India
Exotic Flora


Commelina communis, Asiatic dayflower, Widow's Tears, קומלינה, ודמעות האלמנה


Derivation of the botanical name:
Commelina, in honour of the Dutch botanists Jan (1629 – 1692) and Caspar Commelijn (1668 - 1731), using the two large showy petals of Commelina communis to symbolise them.
communis, common.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

Commelina communis, Asiatic dayflower, Widow's Tears, קומלינה, ודמעות האלמנה


Commelina communis, Asiatic dayflower, Widow's Tears, קומלינה, ודמעות האלמנה