Virginia Dayflower, by Tulla The leaves really are this wide!
Virginia Dayflower, August 14
Research informs us that there are over 20,000 species of known edible plants in the world, but humans eat only a small percentage of these. One reference claims that humans eat only 200 species of plants, another claims we eat 5,000 species, whichever is the case it is still a small percentage when one considers that there are 391,000 species of vascular plants (plants with roots and leaves), an estimated 30,000 to 1,000,000 species of Algae, 12,000 species of mosses, 9,000 species of Liverworts, and 200 species of Hornworts. Granted freshwater Algae, and Hornworts are toxic, but some references claim that that over half of the other plants on earth are edible. Strangely, only 3 grass crops, rice, maize and wheat, account for more than half of all the calories and proteins modern humans consume.
This brings us to the Dayflowers, an edible and common herbaceous annual or perennial flowering plant found all over the Greenway trail as well as all around the world this time of year. Other common names for this plant are Widow’s tears, Woods Dayflower and White Mouth Dayflower. Although all parts of the plant are edible, tasting remarkably like green beans or peas, very few people are eating it. While it is grown commercially in China as a leafy vegetable, the Dayflower plant is considered a noxious weed in many parts of Europe as well as in parts of North America.
Dayflowers are in the Commelinaceae, or the Spiderwort Family. The scientific name for this plant is Commelina followed by the name of the species. The most common native Dayflowers on my trail are the Commelina virginica, or the Virginia Dayflower, and Commelina erecta plants – both are native to North Carolina. These Dayflowers have small light blue petals that can be easily overlooked. I also think I see Commelina caroliniana growing in the area which is a species that is not native to North America. This Dayflower was introduced to South Carolina around 1696 near the Charleston port. It is believed that seeds of the plant hitchhiked to our shores with shipments of rice coming from India. In addition to these Dayflowers I also saw another one with striking bright blue petals on the Greenway trail. This species is Commelina communis, the beautiful Asiatic Dayflower. This plant originated in Asia, particularly in China and India, but is now naturalized in the western hemisphere as is the less showy Commelina benghalensis whose petals have a purple blue hue.
Most Dayflowers grow in moist areas, but some species like the native Commelina erecta also grows in America’s dry grasslands and prairies. The Commelina virginica likes to grow in shaded areas with wet soils. It even grows in shallow, standing water or in places where frequent inundation occurs such as swamps, along streams, and in ditches. Along the Greenway trails, heavy rain storms splash the muddy ground up so that it coats most of the leaves of the plants making it look unappetizing and unattractive, but the little flowers are still quite pretty.
All Dayflower flowers have a distinctive look with two bright blue opposing petals above a smaller blue, white or sometimes green lower petal. You can only see the flowers in the morning. By midday the flowers have withered and disappeared. Each flower only lasts for that one short period of time, but new flower heads will pop up each day starting at the end of spring until early fall.
Sometimes the leaves of this fast growing, shallow rooted herb resemble grass, annoying many gardeners. The lance-shaped leaves are alternate, pointed at the tips, measuring 1 to 5 inches long, and inch and a half wide. Sometimes the leaves are slightly hairy especially on the underside. Stems of the Virginia Dayflower can reach to about 3 feet off the ground, but the plants are usually only a not more than a foot or so tall. When eaten, the stems are described as being juicy and succulent.
Some species of Dayflowers creep on the ground. When this is the case, new roots will emerge from the swollen nodes created where the leaves join the stems, but normally the plant reproduces from seeds. Fertilized flowers form three celled capsules with one seed per cell. Seed capsules look like one side of a heart. Inside there will be one or two seeds that look like miniature peas or beans. Seeds are also tasty, but there are so few of them, and they’re so small, that it is more efficient to just eat them as soon as you find them rather than try to gather enough to make them part of a meal.
The leaf sheaths are slightly enlarged at their bases and they wrap tightly around the stem. Leaves grow all long the stem, but get shorter and shorter as they reach the top of the plant where clusters of two to as many as ten flattened things called “spathes” grow. Spathes are shaped like a boat and contain up to five flower buds surrounded by a clear slime similar to egg whites. A 1 inch flower on a stem will emerge from the spathe at day break only to wilt and disappear around midday. One flower will bloom from one of the spathes each day. After the flowers have all bloomed, spathes persist on the stalk, eventually turning brown in fall.
Along with the two upper petals and the smaller lower petal, Dayflower flowers have three fertile stamen, three infertile stamen and showy yellow lobed anthers and a pistil. To me, the flowers resemble pansies, to others, they look like irises. One of my references wrote that to her the flowers look like cute little mice – the two upper blue petals are the ears, and the three yellow staminodes look like eyes, while the lower stamen and style look like the nose and whiskers.
The flowers, like the rest of the plant, are edible and are fun to nibble on while hiking on a trail, and since they emerge each day, they are most likely free from mud. You have to move quickly to harvest them though because they will wilt. You can immediately eat them, or save them to use as decoration for salads or baked goods. You can also freeze them, and eat them in the winter. Some references say that young shoots, stems and leaves can be eaten raw in a salad, or used as greens on a sandwich. The older leaves will be bitter, though, and are better cooked. The tips of the plants may also be good eaten raw, but are fine when steamed, used as a pot herb, or used as a boiled or fried green. You can also add the leaves and stems, to soup, or add them to a stir fry. The best time to forage for Dayflowers is late in the spring and in early fall when new growth is sprouting. Dayflowers are not a threatened species, so you can harvest as many of the plants as you wish, but leave some for other foragers to find, and also be sure to leave enough so that the plant can reestablish itself.
Older plants have a high oxalate content which binds to calcium as they pass from the body and can increase the risk of kidney stones in some people so, beware! The plants also collect excess copper in the soil and are used to restore soil after contamination from industrial pollutants, so be careful that you do not harvest Dayflowers growing near an old gold or copper mine site. While you need some copper to help your body produce healthy blood vessels, a healthy immune system and good brain development, too much copper works its way through your organs to build up in your liver, lungs and brain. It can cause anemia, jaundice, and kidney malfunction.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, a blue pigment from Dayflower flowers was used to make ink that colored many famous Japanese woodblock prints. Parts of the plants have also been used to make a yellow dye, but aside from these uses, the plant has valuable medicinal applications as well. One compound in the plant, p-hydroxycinnamic acid, has antibacterial activity. The plants also have alkaloids that have antiviral activity. A decoction of Dayflowers made by simmering the stem, leaves and flowers, is used to treat bleeding, diarrhea and fever. The leaves can be made into a tea used as a throat gargle to relieve sore throats and tonsillitis, and it was found that the Asiatic Dayflower has a protective effect against the N1H1 A virus (swine flu).
The plant was named for the Dutch botanist Jan Commelin and his nephew Caspar who lived in the 1600s and were both professors and directors of the Botanical Gardens of Amsterdam. Jan lived at a time when Europeans were being introduced to plants from Asia and the Americas that they had never seen before, and he worked to devise a system of classification for these. He died before his work was finished and his nephew Caspar had to complete it. Eventually Caspar published their work. Both of these scientists created beautiful engravings of plants that you can purchase today. The Dayflower is named after them because the flower has two large petals, and a third small petal that stood for a third member of the Commelin family who unfortunately died young and was never able to reach his full potential as a botanist.
There are many species of the Commelin genus and they are all supposed to be edible. The Asiatic Dayflower is supposedly never bitter and actually tastes sweet, however, I found that the Commelin virginica growing on my Greenway needed a good washing to get the mud off of it. It wasn’t unpleasant when eating it raw because it tasted a lot like peas, but I have to admit that it does taste kind of bitter and would probably be better when cooked.
Interested in making Creamed Dayflower? The recipe found in the first resource below is said to be a good side dish for roast chicken and root vegetables. Leda Meredith, the author of the article, wrote that the flower sheaths might not have a good texture, so she leaves them out, but recommends eating the leaves, succulent stems, flowers and immature seeds anytime during the growing season. She also says that you can preserve dayflower greens, stems and all by blanching and then freezing them. Access her recipe in the resource below, and let me know what you think about the dish.
Want to try to make a witch’s brew out of Dayflowers or use them when casting a witch’s spell to insure good health? The second resource listed gives you information on both of these. If you want even more information on these edible plants, click on more of the websites below and leave some comments so that I know that you have visited.
Leda Meredith, The Forager’s Feast, “Creamed Dayflower Recipe-Foraging Asiatic Dayflower”, https://ledameredith.com/foraging-asiatic-dayflower-recipe/#:~:text=Dayflowers%20prefer%20partial%20shade%20and,summer%20and%20sometimes%20early%20fall.
Mad Diviner, New England Urban Witch Foraging:Dayflowers, https://www.maddiviner.com/post/169431235629/new-england-urban-witch-foragingdayflowers
Mongabay, News & Inspiration from Nature’s Frontline, “How Many plant species are there in the world? Scientists now have an answer.” 2016, https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/many-plants-world-scientists-may-now-answer/#:~:text=Scientists%20now%20have%20an%20answer,-by%20Shreya%20Dasgupta&text=There%20are%20about%20391%2C000%20species,Kew%2C%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom
John Warren, World Economic Forum, “Why do we consume only a tiny fraction of the world’s edible plants?” 2016, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/why-do-we-consume-only-a-tiny-fraction-of-the-world-s-edible-plants#:~:text=Homo%20sapiens%2C%20the%20most%20cosmopolitan,that%20we%20derive%20from%20plants.
Plants for a Future, “Edible”, https://pfaf.org/user/edibleuses.aspx#:~:text=There%20are%20over%2020%2C000%20species,are%20both%20delicious%20and%20nutritious.
Arkansas Native Plant Society, “Know Your Natives – Vrginia Dayflower”, 2015, https://anps.org/2015/09/18/know-your-natives-virginia-dayflower/
Whole Ideal Healing, “Dayflower is edible and medicinal for colds and flu”, https://wholeideahealing.com/2011/08/12/dayflower-is-edible-and-medicinal-for-colds-and-flu/
Missouri Department of Conservation, “Common Dayflower”, https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/common-dayflower
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Plant Database, “Commelina virginica” https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COVI3
Arkansas Native Plant society, “Know your Natives – Virginia Dayflower”, 2015, https://anps.org/2015/09/18/know-your-natives-virginia-dayflower/
Hannah Sweet, The planet, “Day Flower, A Dainty and Overlooked wild Edible”, https://eattheplanet.org/day-flower-a-dainty-and-overlooked-wild-edible/
Florafinder.org, Commelina communis L. “Asiatic dayflower”, https://florafinder.org/Species/Commelina_communis.php
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