Commelina communis vs Commelina erecta
These two are not on this page because a keyword tool suggested them. They are here because our own identification model genuinely mistook one for the other, on real photographs, 8 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.
Side by sidefigs. a and b
Commelina communis
Commelina erecta
How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated
| When the plant was | The model said | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Commelina communis | Commelina erecta | 3 of 20 (15%) |
| Commelina erecta | Commelina communis | 5 of 20 (25%) |
The confusion is asymmetric, which is common and usually informative: it means one of these has a character the other lacks, rather than the two simply looking alike.
Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.
What actually separates themon the record
| Family | Both Commelinaceae. The family does not separate them. |
|---|---|
| Genus | Both Commelina. Congeners, which is why this is hard. |
| Flowering | Peaks in September versus April. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 8,801 and 10,563.) |
What we do not have yet: the diagnostic morphological character that a botanist would key on, from a source we can cite. We are not going to invent one. Until we have it, this page tells you the two are genuinely confusable, how often, and what the taxonomy and the flowering data do and do not settle.