Description
Potentially Misidentified Species - Commelina virginica (Virginia Dayflower) and C. erecta (Whitemouth Dayflower) are native; C. diffusa (Spreading Dayflower) is cryptogenic in North America (Faden 1993; Fernald 1950; Gleason and Cronquist 1991).
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plantae | Magnoliophyta | Liliopsida | Commelinales | Commelinaceae | Commelina |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 | Established | Stable | Introduced | Boundary Resident | Europe | East Asia | Ornamental(Garden Escape) |
History of Spread
Commelina communis (Common Dayflower) is an Asian plant once widely cultivated in Europe and America as an ornamental, but later disdained for its weedy qualities (Muenscher 1980). It was included among colonial (before 1753) MD herbarium specimens examined by Brown et al. (1987). Brown et al. noted that some of the introduced plants among the specimens may have been taken from cultivated specimens. Other early records of C. communis outside cultivation are uncertain. Specimens identified as C. communis from the collections of John Clayton in Virginia in the 1730's (Gronovius 1739; Reveal 1983) are actually C. erecta (British Natural History Museum 2001). Walter (1788) reported C. communis from the Carolinas, as did Pursh (1814) 'in sandy fields in Carolina', but these also could have been other species. Commelina communis was not listed for the northeastern U.S. by Gray (1848), but was included in later editions of Gray's manual (Gray 1867; Gray 1889); and by Robinson and Fernald (1908). It is now found from MA to GA and ND to TX, and is absent only from the northern prairie states (Fernald 1950; United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service 1998).
Commelina communis was not listed for Baltimore by Aikin (1837) or for the District of Columbia by Brereton (1830), but was reported by Holm (1896) from Rock Creek Park, Washington DC. It was described by Hitchcock and Standley (1919) as 'a common and persistent weed'. It is found in nearly all VA counties, and is also widespread in MD (Brown and Brown 1984; Harvill et al. 1992). Commelina communis was reported from a brackish marsh at Magruder's Landing, Patuxent River (Anderson et al. 1968) and from 'River Park, Pot. R' (Potomac River, MD; location unknown- Krauss et al. 1971). It is common in Dyke Marsh, Alexandria VA on the Potomac River, and on the upper beach margin at North Point State Park, Edgemere MD (Fofonoff unpublished data).
History References - Aikin 1837; Brereton 1830; Brown and Brown 1984; Gray 1848; Gray 1867; Gray 1889; Gronovius 1739; Harvill et al. 1992; Hitchcock and Standley 1919; Holm 1896; Krauss et al. 1971; Leck et al. 1988; Muenscher 1980; Natural History Museum (UK) 2001; Natural Resources Conservation Service 1998; Pursh 1814; Reveal 1983; Sollers 1888; ; Walter 1788; Ward 1881
Invasion Comments
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | ||||
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | fresh-meso |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
|||
| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
|||
| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Commelina communis (Common Dayflower) is a common weed in lawns and gardens (Brown and Brown 1984; Muenscher 1980), but has no economic impacts in Chesapeake Bay proper.
References- Brown and Brown 1984; Muenscher 1980
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Commelina communis (Common Dayflower) was once widely planted as an ornamental, but later largely abandoned because of its weedy qualities (Muenscher 1980). It probably has few impacts on estuaries.
References- Muenscher 1980
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
Commelina communis (Common Dayflower) is a common invasive plant in disturbed terrestrial habitats (Fernald 1950), but is usually rare or only locally common in the intertidal zones of Chesapeake Bay. Consequently, no impacts on native flora have been reported in the Bay proper. This plant is listed as having a low level of invasiveness in VA (Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation 1999).
References- Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation 1999; Fernald 1950
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Commelina communis (Common Dayflower) is a common invasive plant in disturbed terrestrial habitats (Fernald 1950), but is usually rare or only locally common in the intertidal zones of Chesapeake Bay. Consequently, no impacts on exotic flora have been reported in the Bay proper.
References- Fernald 1950
References
Aikin, W. E. A. (1837) Catalogue of phenogamous plants and ferns, native or naturalized, growing in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland., Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and Literature 1: 55-91Anderson, Richard D.; Brown, Russell, G.; Rappleye, Robert D. (1968) Water quality and plant distribution along the upper Patuxent River, Maryland, Chesapeake Science 9: 145-156
Brereton, J. A. (1830) Prodromus of the Flora Columbiana, , Washington, D.C.. Pp.
Brown, Melvin L.; Brown, Russell G. (1984) Herbaceous Plants of Maryland, , College Park. Pp.
Brown, Melvin L.; Reveal, J. L; Broome, C. R.; Frick, George F. (1987) Comments on the vegetation of colonial Maryland, Huntia 7: 247-283
Faden, Robert B. (1993) The misconstrued and rare Species of Commelina (Commelinaceae) in the United States, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 8: 208-218
Fernald, Merritt L. (1950) Gray's Manual of Botany, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.
Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur (1991) Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , Bronx, New York. Pp.
Gray, Asa (1848) A manual of botany of the northern United States., In: (Eds.) . , Boston. Pp.
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Harvill, A. M.; Bradley, Ted R.; Stevens, Charles E.; Wieboldt, Thomas F.; Ware, Donna M. E.; Ogle, Douglas W.; Ramsey, Gwynn W.; Fleming, Gary P. (1992) Atlas of the Virginia Flora, , Burkeville, VA. Pp.
Hitchcock, A. S.; Standley, P. C. (1919) Flora of the District of Columbia and Vicinity., In: (Eds.) . , Washington, D. C.. Pp.
Holm, Theodore (1896) Fourth list of additions to the flora of Washington D.C., Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 10: 29-43
Kartesz, John T. (1994) A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland., In: (Eds.) . , Portland OR. Pp.
Krauss, R.W.; Brown, R. G.; Rappleye, R. D.; Owens, A. B.; Shearer, C.; Hsiao, E.; Reveal, J. (1971) Checklist of plant species occurring within the hightide limits of the Chesapeake Bay, and its tributaries., , College Park, Maryland. Pp.
Leck, Mary A.; Simpson, Robert L.; Whigham, Dennis F., Leck, Charles F. (1988) Plants of the Hamilton marshes, a Delaware River freshwater tidal wetland, Bartonia 54: 1-17
Muenscher, Walter C. (1980) Weeds., In: (Eds.) . , Ithaca, NY. Pp.
2000 The John Clayton Herbarum. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/botany/clayton
1997-2024 USDA PLANTS Database.. Onine databse
Pursh, Frederick (1814) Flora Americae Septentrionalis or, a Systematic Arrangement and Description of the Plants of North America, , Hirschburg. Pp.
Reveal, James L. (1983) Significance of pre-1753 botanical explorations in temperate North America on Linnaeus' first edition of Species Plantarum, Phytologia 53: 1-96
Sollers, Basil (1888) Check list of plants compiled for the vicinity of Baltimore., , Baltimore. Pp.
1999 Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia. http://www.state.va.us/~dcr/dnh/invlist.htm
Walter, Thomas (1788) Flora Caroliniana, , London. Pp.
Ward, L. F. (1881) Guide to the flora of Washington and Vicinity, United States National Museum Bulletin 22: 1-264