Kana / Garden Commelina
Commelina benghalensis
Also known as Dayflower
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana & more
- Flowering
- July-November
How to identify Kana
Identify Kana by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Very common hairy-leaved garden weed.
- Confirm flower colour: Blue.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: July-November.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Commelinaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Kana.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Commelina benghalensis
- Genus
- Commelina
- Family
- Commelinaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Wasteland and deciduous forests
- Distribution
- Pantropical, Introduced elsewhere
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Delhi, Odisha, Bihar, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Arunachal Pradesh, Daman & Diu, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya
- Flowering & fruiting
- July-November
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Commelinaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Bluerecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kana itself; the rest are typical of the Commelinaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- काना Kana, कनकव्वा Kankawa, बुचना Buchna, Kanchara
- Nepali
- काने Kane, काने घाँस
- Bengali
- ঢোলপাতা, চিত্রপত্রী, কানশিরে
- Tamil
- கானாங்கோழை kanangkozai, adutinnathalai, kanan valai
- Kannada
- ಹಿಟ್ಟಗಾಣಿ Hittagani, ಕನ್ನೆಸೊಪ್ಪು Kannesoppu ಗುಬ್ಬಚ್ಚಿಬಾಳೆ Gubbacchi baale
- Malayalam
- kanankolai, kancatam, കാനവാഴ
- Marathi
- केना Kena, केना
About Kana
Garden Commelina (Commelina benghalensis) belongs to the Commelinaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and 25 other states. It grows in wasteland and deciduous forests. Flowering and fruiting run from July to November.
Uses
It is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and harvested for fodder. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Commelinaceae
Spiderwort Family
Kana belongs to the Commelinaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Commelinaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Kana or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides