Commelina diffusa var. cordispatha Rohweder, 1956

Pellegrini, Marco O. O., Cornejo, Xavier, Morais, Isa Lucia De, De Almeida, Rafael F. & Michelan, Thaisa S., 2025, We are the Crystal Gems: taxonomic revision of the gem-fruited species of Commelina L. (Commelinaceae, Commelinales) and their allies, European Journal of Taxonomy 1020, pp. 1-94 : 81

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2025.1020.3073
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17206658
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03FC3925-FFB2-FFF5-4139-02269116F895
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Commelina diffusa var. cordispatha Rohweder
status

Treatment

Commelina diffusa var. cordispatha Rohweder View in CoL

Commelina diffusa var. cordispatha Rohweder ( Rohweder 1956: 159) View in CoL . Syn. nov.

Etymology

The epithet derives from the combination of the Latin genitive ʻ cordis ʼ (meaning ʻheartʼ) + the Ancient Greek ʻ σπάθη ʼ ( spáthē, meaning ʻany broad bladeʼ), in reference to this species’ cordate spathes.

Type material

EL SALVADOR – Chalatenango • Weg Hda. Sta. Cruz, “La Laguna” , near Chalatenango ; 700 m a.s.l.; 25 Nov. 1950; fl., fr.; O. Rohweder 882; lectotype: HBG [ HBG-514345 ]!, designated by Hassemer (2020); isolectotypes HBG [ HBG-514346 , HBG-514347 ] !.

Accepted species

Commelina tuberosa L.

Remarks

Commelina diffusa var. cordispatha Rohweder was erroneously considered by Hassemer (2020) as a synonym of C. texcocana . However, no rationale was provided, and based on the analysis of the type specimens and protologue, this cannot be sustained. Commelina diffusa var. cordispatha clearly presents an ascending to erect habit, which prevents it from being associated with C. texcocana or C. pallida . Furthermore, fruit and seed morphology does not match these species, further distancing it from these species. Nonetheless, this name does fit perfectly into Hassemer’s (2020) own very broad and allencompassing circumscription of C. tuberosa s. lat. Due to the massive number of names officially and unofficially associated with the C. tuberosa species complex, we choose to take a conservative approach and tentatively place it under the synonymy of C. tuberosa s. lat. until further studies are carried out.