Kanshura / Climbing Day Flower
Commelina diffusa
Also known as Creeping Dayflower
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka & more
- Flowering
- April-November
How to identify Kanshura
Identify Kanshura 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: Sprawling creeping habit.
- Confirm leaf shape: Lanceolate.
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous.
- Confirm flower colour: Blue.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Cyme.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: April-November.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Commelina diffusa
- Genus
- Commelina
- Family
- Commelinaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Sandy soil in dry deciduous forests and scrub forests
- Native to
- India
- Distribution
- Pantropical, Warm temperate regions
- Found in India
- Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Puducherry, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- April-November
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- LanceolaterecordedLong and narrow, tapering to a point, like a lance head.“The leaf blades are relatively variable, ranging from lanceolate to ovate, with proximal leaves tending to be more oblong.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- GlabrousrecordedSmooth, hairless.“The leaf surface can be either glabrous (i.e.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kanshura itself; the rest are typical of the Commelinaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Bluerecorded
- Flower arrangement
- CymerecordedA branched cluster where the central/terminal flower opens first.“The flowers are arranged into cincinni (singular: cincinnus), or scorpioid cymes.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fruit type
- CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“The fruit is a capsule which has three locules and 2 valves.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Kanshura itself; the rest are typical of the Commelinaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Kanshura
- Bengali
- চিত্রপত্রী
- Malayalam
- വാഴപ്പടത്തി
- Marathi
- केनी
About Kanshura
Climbing Day Flower (Commelina diffusa) is a herb in the Commelinaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka and 15 other states. It grows in sandy soil in dry deciduous forests and scrub forests. Flowering and fruiting run from April to November.
Uses
In practice it is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and a source of dye or tannin. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Commelinaceae
Spiderwort Family
Kanshura belongs to the Commelinaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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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.
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