5. Murdannia Royle, Illustrations of the Botany ... of the Himalayan Mountains ... 403, plate 95, fig. 3. 1840.
[name conserved]
[In honor of Murdan Aly, plant collector and keeper of the herbarium at Saharunpore]
Herbs, annual or perennial. Roots thin [tuberous]. Leaves: blade sessile. Inflorescences terminal, terminal and axillary, or all axillary, thyrses to fascicles of 1-flowered cymes; spathaceous bracts absent; bracteoles persistent or caducous. Flowers bisexual or bisexual and staminate, radially or bilaterally symmetric; pedicels well developed; sepals distinct, subequal; petals distinct, white to purple or violet, rarely yellow, subequal, not clawed; stamens 2--3 fertile and antisepalous, 3--4 staminodial and antipetalous (if 4, then 1 antisepalous); filaments glabrous or bearded; antherodes usually 3-lobed; ovary 3-locular, ovules 1--many per locule, 1[--2]-seriate. Capsules 3-valved, 3-locular. Seeds 1--many per locule, 1[--2]-seriate; hilum punctiform to linear; embryotega abaxial to semilateral. x = 6, 7, 9, 10, 11.
Species ca. 50 (3 in the flora): introduced; pantropical and warm temperate.
SELECTED REFERENCES
Faden, R. B. 1978. Review of the lectotypification of Aneilema R. Br. (Commelinaceae). Taxon 27: 289--298. Shinners, L. H. 1962. Aneilema (Commelinaceae) in the United States. Sida 1: 100--101.
