Occurrence (Special Areas) :
Indroda Park, Punit Van, Van Chetana Kendra, Aranya Van, Sarita Udyan
About Commelina benghalensis Plant :
Habit : An annual herbaceous weed, with branched tap root system.
Stem : Slender, semi-erect or creeping, cylindrical, branched, hairy, nodes and internodes distinct, greenish with purplish tinge.
Leaves : Simple, exstipulate, sessile or shortly petiolate with sheathing leaf base, amplexicaul, hairy, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, entire or repand, multicostate parallel venation.
Inflorescence :Terminal, bifid cymes surrounded by 1-3 spathes or bracts; spathesconduplicate; one cyme with 2-3 flowers whereas other cyme of 1-2 flowers.
Flowers :
Bracteate, pedicellate, complete, zygomorphic, bisexual, hypogynous, trimerous, cyclic, blue in colour, flowers are also subterranean and cleistogamous.
Perianth made up of 6 tepals, arranged in two whorls of three each; outer whorl of 3 represents calyx in which the sepals are polysepalous, inferior, membranous, obovate and petalloid (white); inner whorl of 3 represents corolla in which one of the petals is larger being conduplicate, polypetalous, imbricate, clawed and blue.
Androecium of 6 stamens, of which 3 fertile and remaining 3 sterile represented by blue staminodes, antiphyllous; filament filiform, smooth, light blue; anthers dithecous with discrete and divaricate as 'x'-shaped lobes, both dorsifixed and basifixed, bright yellow.
Gynoecium tricarpellary, syncarpous, superior, trilocular (one locule with one ovule and other two locules with two ovules each), axile placentation; style simple, filiform, whitish-purple, distal end circinately coiled; stigma capitate.
Fruit : Membranous, pyriform capsule.
Flowering and Fruiting Time : Throughout the year.
Significance :
Common weed everywhere.
The entire plant is used as a laxative and also in the treatment of leprosy.
