Commelina Flowers

Type of Flowers 

Commelina : 

Commelina, commonly known as the Commelina Coelestis,Commelina Communis,Commelina Diffusa,Commelina Elegans,Commelina Benghalensis, is a perennial herb native throughout the Americas, Africa and western Asia. It is considered to be the most variable species of Commelina in North America. Fernald recognized three varieties, but Robert B. Faden has questioned their significance.

Commelina is native to much of the world, including the Americas, Africa and western Asia. In the Americas it is present in the United States, the West Indies, every country of Central America and south through the tropics into Argentina. In the United States it can be found from New York and Nebraska in the north, south to Florida and Texas.In the West Indies it is present throughout Puerto Rico and on several of the Virgin Islands such as Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, Saint John, George Dog Island, Anegada, Great Camanoe, Guana Island, Tortola and Water Island.

In tropical Africa the plant is also widespread. In west Africa it is present in Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, and Bioko.

In the West Indies it is common in disturbed sites as well as in dry to moist woods from sea level up to 1300 meters.

Lagerstroemia Flowers

Type of Flowers 

Lagerstroemia: 

Lagerstroemia commonly known as crape myrtle or crepe myrtle, is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Indian Subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia and parts of Oceania, cultivated in warmer climates around the world. It is a member of the Lythraceae, which is also known as the loosestrife family. The genus is named after the Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström, who supplied Carolus Linnaeus with plants he collected. These flowering trees are beautifully colored and are often planted both privately and commercially. Popular varieties used in modern landscaping include the bright red Dynamite Crape Myrtle, the deep pink Pink Velour Crape and the purple Twilight Crape Myrtle, which also has a bark that changes colors.

Crape myrtles are chiefly known for their colorful and long-lasting flowers which occur in summer months. Most species of Lagerstroemia have sinewy, fluted stems and branches with a mottled appearance that arises from having bark that sheds throughout the year. The leaves are opposite, simple, with entire margins, and vary from 5–20 cm (2–8 in). While all species are woody in nature, they can range in height from over 100 feet to under one foot; most, however are small to medium multiple-trunked trees and shrubs. The leaves of temperate species provide autumn color.

Flowers are borne in summer and autumn in panicles of crinkled flowers with a crepe-like texture. Colors vary from deep purple to red to white, with almost every shade in between. Although no blue-flowered varieties exist, it is toward the blue end of the spectrum that the flowers trend, with no sight of orange or yellow except in stamens and pistils. The fruit is a capsule, green and succulent at first, then ripening to dark brown or black dryness. It splits along six or seven lines, producing teeth much like those of the calyx, and releases numerous, small, winged seeds.

The common crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) from China and Korea, was introduced circa 1790 to Charleston, South Carolina, in the United States by the French botanist André Michaux. In the wild, the species is most often found as a multistemmed large shrub, but two hundred years of cultivation has resulted in a huge number of cultivars of widely varying characteristics. Today, crape myrtles varieties can fill every landscape need, from tidy street trees to dense barrier hedges all the way down to fast-growing dwarf types of less than two feet, which can go from seed to bloom in a season (allowing gardeners in places where the plant is not winter-hardy to still enjoy the intense colors of the frilly flowers). In Europe, crape myrtle is common in the south of France, the Iberian Peninsula and all of Italy; in the United States it can be seen anywhere south of USDA Zone 6, doing best and avoiding fungal diseases in mild climates that are not overly humid, such as inland California and Texas.

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagerstroemia

Gentiana Flowers

Type of Flowers 

Gentiana: 

Gentiana is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family (Gentianaceae), the tribe Gentianeae, and the monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species it is considered a large genus. They are notable for their mostly large, trumpet-shaped flowers, which are often of an intense blue. The genus name is a tribute to Gentius, an Illyrian king who may have been the discoverer of tonic properties in gentians.

This is a cosmopolitan genus, occurring in alpine habitats in temperate regions of Asia, Europe and the Americas. Some species also occur in northwestern Africa, eastern Australia, and New Zealand. They are annual, biennial, and perennial plants. Some are evergreen, others are not.

Many gentians are difficult to grow outside their wild habitat, but several species are available in cultivation. Gentians are fully hardy and can grow in full sun or partial shade. They grow in well-drained, neutral to acid soils rich in humus. They are popular in rock gardens.

Gentiana punctata leaves and roots have been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally and externally as liqueur or tea for treatment of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, skin, locomotor system, liver and bile, for paediatric problems, fever, flu, rheumatism and gout.

Gentians have oppositely arranged leaves, sometimes in a basal rosette. The trumpet-shaped flowers are usually deep blue or azure, but can be white, cream, yellow, or red. Many species are polymorphic with respect to flower color, bearing flowers of different colors. Blue-flowered species predominate in the Northern Hemisphere, with red-flowered species dominant in the Andes, where bird pollination is probably more often favored by natural selection. White-flowered species are scattered throughout the range of the genus but dominate in New Zealand. Most flowers are pentamerous, with 5 lobes in the corolla and 5 sepals. A few species have 4 to 7 flower parts. The corolla has folds called plicae between the lobes. The style is short or absent. The ovary is mostly sessile and has nectary glands.