Commelina polyspatha Wight

Commelina polyspatha Wight Commelina polyspatha Wight (Wight 1853: pl. 2066). – Trithyrocarpus polyspatha (Wight) Hassk. (Hasskarl 1866: 211), Syn. nov. Type material INDIA – Bolamputty Mountains • near Coimbatore; Nov. 1852; fl., fr.; R. Wight s.n.; lectotype: K [K000794525]!, designated here; isolectotype: K [K000794526]! pro parte, material on the upper half of the sheet. Accepted species Commelina paludosa Blume. Remarks Commelina polyspatha represents a synonym of the Asian C. paludosa and is thus excluded from the Neotropical gem-fruited species. As aforementioned, this species presents a vestigial and flowerless upper cincinnus, capsules 3-valved, with 1-seeded locules, seeds with smooth testa, embryotega lateral, and hilum curved. These characters make it very similar to C. scabrata, which, aside from the obvious intercontinental disjunction, can be differentiated by its paired petals limb with a cuneate base and white claw, antherodes with upper lobes very widely obovate and larger than the lower, lower lobes widely oblong to subquadrangular, unequally 2-valved prismatic capsules with verrucose walls, and seeds with ornate testa. Nonetheless, we have yet to be able to confirm if the capsules of C. paludosa (as well as the closely related C. maculata Edgew.) also present ventral valves that only split up to mid-length. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the relationship and morphological differences between the Palaeotropical C. maculata and C. paludosa and the Neotropical C. bambusifolia and C. scabrata.