Crested blue ear (Cyanotis cristata)

Crested cat ears (Cyanotis cristata) is a species of plant in the Commelinaceae, a fleshy and strong herb, growing as a vine. Leaves 8 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, oblong, rounded or heart-shaped base, blunt or pointed tip, sparsely ciliated at the edge; sheath loose, up to 8 mm long, scaly.

C. cristata has flowers 6-7 mm in diameter. Calyx tube 2 mm long, lobes 2-2.5 mm long, hairy. Corolla pale blue to purple, 6 mm long. Stamen filaments bearded, purple. Ovary rounded, hairy at the apex. Capsules 2-3 mm long, ovate. Seeds about 1 mm long, trigonous, 2 large holes on either side.



This species grows in grasslands, degraded forest areas, wastelands, waterways and roadsides. C. cristata is found in wet rocky areas, moist soils, grasslands, ravines and riverbanks.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Commelinales
Family: Commelinaceae
Subfamily: Commelinoideae
Tribe: Tradescantieae
Subtribe: Cyanotinae
Genus: Cyanotis D.Don in Prodr. Fl. Nepal.: 45 (1825)
Species: Cyanotis cristata (L.) D.Don in Prodr. Fl. Nepal.: 46 (1825)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Commelina cristata L. in Sp. Pl.: 42 (1753)
Ephemerum cristatum (L.) Moench in Methodus: 238 (1794)
Siphostigma cristata (L.) Raf. in Fl. Tellur. 2: 16 (1837)
Tonningia cristata (L.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 722 (1891)
Tradescantia cristata (L.) L. in Syst. Nat., ed. 12. 2: 233 (1767)
Zygomenes cristata (L.) W.Wight in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 9: 404 (1905)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Commelina papilionacea Burm.f. in Fl. Indica: 17 (1768)
Cyanotis cavaleriei H.Lév. & Vaniot in Mém. Soc. Sci. Nat. Math. Cherbourg 35: 387 (1906)
Cyanotis huegelii Hassk. in Commelin. Ind.: 128 (1870)
Cyanotis imbricata (Roxb.) Kunth in Enum. Pl. 4: 103 (1843)
Cyanotis papilionacea (Burm.f.) Schult. & Schult.f. in J.J.Roemer & J.A.Schultes, Syst. Veg., ed. 15[bis]. 7: 1151 (1830)
Cyanotis racemosa C.B.Clarke in Commelyn. Cyrtandr. Bengal.: 56, t. 36 (1874)
Tonningia papilionacea (Burm.f.) Kuntze (1891)
Tradescantia cristata B.Heyne ex C.B.Clarke in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 3: 246 (1881)
Tradescantia imbricata Roxb. in Fl. Ind. 2: 120 (1824)
Tradescantia papilionacea (Burm.f.) L. in Mant. Pl. 2: 513 (1771)
Tradescantia umbellata B.Heyne ex C.B.Clarke (1881)

PUBLICATIONS

Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.

Acharya, J., Banerjee, D. & Mukherjee, A. (2009). A contribution to the study of Commelinaceae R.Br. in Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalayas. Pleione 3(1): 18-27.

Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.

Kotiya, A., Solanki, Y. & Reddy, G.V. (2020). Flora of Rajasthan: 1-769. Rajasthan state biodiversity board.

Kumar, S. (2012). Herbaceous flora of Jaunsar-Bawar (Uttarkhand), India: enumerations. Phytotaxonomy 12: 33-56.

Maliya, S.D. & Datt, B. (2010). A contribution to the flora of Katarniyaghat wildlife sanctuary, Baharaich district, Uttar Pradesh. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 34: 42-68.

Nandikar, M.D. & Gurav, R.V. (2014). A revision of the genus Cyanotis D.Don (Commelinaceae) in India. Taiwania 59: 292-314.

Tanaka, N., Koyama, T. & Murata, J. (2005). The flowering plants of Mt. Popa, central Myanmar - Results of Myanmar-Japanese joint expeditions, 2000-2004. Makinoa 5: 1-102.

VERNACULAR NAME

English: Crested blue ear, Crested cat ears
Filipino: alikbangon, kulasing-akabaleg
Indonesian: Tapak jambul
Java: Tapak jambul, Gewor
Khmer: ស្មៅស្លាប់ទាយ Smau slaab tie
Lao: ກາບປີ Kaab pii
Malayalam: Nabhali
Marathi: Nabhali
Mizo: Vawmkur
Nepali: सानो काने Saano Kaane
Tamil: குதிரை குளம்படி Kuthirai kulambadi
Telugu: Eggoli, Netha kina
Thai: หญ้าหัวรากน้อย

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
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