The Nature LibraryEN·ES
iNat·576790GenusPlantae2 field observations
  1. Plants
  2. ›Vascular Plants
  3. ›flowering plants
  4. ›monocots
  5. ›Spiderworts and Allies
  6. ›Spiderworts
  7. ›Commelinoideae
  8. ›Commelineae
  9. ›Dayflowers and relatives
Polyspatha
Plate 1 of 1. (c) Bart Wursten, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bart Wursten · via iNaturalist

Polyspatha

Polyspatha is a genus of perennial monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Commelinaceae. It is restricted to tropical Africa consists of three recognized species.

The genus is characterised by its unique leaf-like bracts that subtend inflorescences (often called spathes), which are arranged oppositely up the flowering shoot. Plants in the genus also have white flowers, two carpels with one seed in each, and vegetative reproduction by stolons. Along with most other genera of the Commelineae tribe with relatively few species, Polyspatha is found in tropical forest understories, and also in disturbed shady locations.

Continue reading on Wikipedia
§·

Where it lives

Recorded sightings

—

geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.

§·

In the stacks

Searching the stacks…

Every page naming Polyspatha in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 576790.