Spiderwort (Commelinaceae)

Spiderwort (Commelinaceae) is a family of plants in the Commelinales, flowering with about 731 species in 41 genera, have morphological variations, especially inflorescences which are very high among angiosperms, well-developed stems and often swollen at the internodes, short-lived flowers and widely cultivated as ornamental plants.

Commelinaceae usually perennials but a small number of species are annuals, terrestrial except for plants in the genus Cochliostema which are epiphytes. Upright and often spreading by rooting on internodes or stolons. Some have rhizomes and climbers. Roots are fibrous or tuber-shaped.

The leaves form a midrib at the base and surround the stem. The leaves are alternate on the stem and may be two-tiered or spirally arranged. The leaf blades are simple and intact, sometimes narrowing at the base and often watery.

Inflorescences on the terminal shoots on the top of the plant or on the terminal shoots and axillary of the lower internodes. Flowers are usually all bisexual, but some species are andromonoecious, gynomonoecious and polygamomonoecious.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Commelinales
Family: Commelinaceae

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