''Commelina africana'', the common yellow commelina, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the family

Commelinaceae Commelinaceae is a family of flowering plants. In less formal contexts, the group is referred to as the dayflower family or spiderwort family. It is one of five families in the order Commelinales and by far the largest of these with about 731 kn ...

. It is native to SubSaharan Africa, Madagascar,

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

, and the Arabian Peninsula, and has been introduced to India. It is occasionally consumed as a leaf vegetable, and occasionally fed to rabbits and pigs.

Subtaxa

The following subtaxa are accepted: *''Commelina africana'' subsp. ''africana'' *''Commelina africana'' var. ''glabriuscula'' (Norl.) Brenan – Southern Africa, Rift Valley *''Commelina africana'' var. ''karooica'' (C.B.Clarke) Govaerts – Namibia, Botswana, South Africa *''Commelina africana'' var. ''krebsiana'' (Kunth) C.B.Clarke – Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Comoros *''Commelina africana'' var. ''lancispatha'' C.B.Clarke – Sierra Leone, eastern, central and southern Africa *''Commelina africana'' var. ''milleri'' Brenan – Namibia, Botswana, Northern Provinces, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda *''Commelina africana'' var. ''villosior'' (C.B.Clarke) Brenan – Most of range *''Commelina africana'' subsp. ''zanzibarica'' Faden – Kenya, Tanzania, and introduced to India

References

africana Flora of West Tropical Africa Flora of West-Central Tropical Africa Flora of Northeast Tropical Africa Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of South Tropical Africa Flora of Southern Africa Flora of Madagascar Flora of Réunion Flora of Saudi Arabia Flora of Yemen Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Plants described in 1753 {{Commelinales-stub