Slender Dayflower
Commelina erecta
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 6 inches–3 feet
- Light
- Part shade
- Soil moisture
- Dry

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 7 West Virginia counties.
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Commelina
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
12BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Commelina
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
6BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Commelina
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
- Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
1AntsRecorded seed interactions
- Pogonomyrmex badius
Pogonomyrmex badius: Seed predation.
No records yet · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Commelinaceae
- Flower color
- Blue
What its natural habitat tells you
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Blue” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “6 inches–3 feet” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Part shade” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- primary_flower_color · “blue” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Also known as
Whitemouth Dayflower
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

