Wildflower (forb) · Commelinaceae
Virginia dayflower
Commelina virginica
Virginia dayflower is recorded as native to 22 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 563 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Virginia dayflower at a glance
- Native in
- 563 counties, across 22 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b PLANTS minimum temperature −18°F
- Mature height
- 3.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −18°F; zone 5b winters bottom out at −15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Virginia dayflower is recorded as native to 22 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 563 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 563 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 23 counties
- Arkansas 50 counties
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 14 counties
- Georgia 19 counties
- Illinois 17 counties
- Indiana 18 counties
- Kansas 40 counties
- Kentucky 28 counties
- Louisiana 53 counties
- Mississippi 49 counties
- Missouri 40 counties
- New Jersey 2 counties
- North Carolina 42 counties
- Oklahoma 7 counties
- Pennsylvania 2 counties
- South Carolina 28 counties
- Tennessee 35 counties
- Texas 22 counties
- Virginia 52 counties
- West Virginia 19 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Summer and Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 36 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.7 to 6.7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −18°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 165
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Blue
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Commelinaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- COVI3
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Commelina virginica (PLANTS symbol COVI3).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources