Classification
Kingdom: Plantae (2715)
Phylum: Tracheophyta (2630)
Class: Liliopsida (397)
Order: Commelinales (22)
Family: Commelinaceae (22)(family description)
Genus: Commelina (5)
Epithet: erecta L. (8)
Synonyms: Commelina aethiopica C.B.Clarke, Commelina bahiensis Hoffmanns. ex Spreng., Commelina bainesii C.B.Clarke, Commelina elegans Kunth, Commelina ensifolia F.Muell., Commelina gerrardii C.B.Clarke, Commelina guineensis Hua, Commelina hirsuta Willd. ex Spreng., Commelina martiana Seub., Commelina pohliana Seub., Commelina saxicola Small, Commelina sulcata Hoffmanns. ex Spreng., Commelina sulcata Benth., Commelina venusta C.B.Clarke, Commelina vogelii C.B.Clarke
aethiopica => of Ethiopian origin
bahiensis => from Bahia, Brazil
bainesii => in honor of John Thomas Baines (1820-1875), English artist and explorer of British colonial southern Africa and Australia
elegans => graceful, neat, nice
erecta => upright, perpendicular
gerrardii => in honor of William Tyrer Gerrard (circa 1831-1866), English botanical collector in Natal and Madagascar
guineensis => indicates origin in the Guinea Coast
hirsuta => having long distinct hairs, rough, hairy
martiana => in honor of Karl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868), German botanist and explorer
sulcata => furrowed
venusta => charming, graceful, pretty, neat
vogelii => in honor of Dr. Theodore Vogel, botanist to the voyage of the expedition sent by Her Britannic Majesty to the river Niger in 1841