What is "murdannia"

Murdannia is a genus of annual or perennial monocotyledonous flowering plants in the dayflower family.

The genus is one of the largest in the family. They are most easily distinguished from other genera in the family by their three-lobed or spear-shaped antherodes (i.e. non-functional anthers). Also, along with the closely related genus Anthericopsis, it is the only genus with staminodes (i.e. non-functional stamens) opposite the petals.

Murdannia are found in tropical regions across the globe with extensions into warm temperate areas. Typically, Murdannia species are found in open areas in mesic soils. However, some are semi- aquatic, and a limited few are found in closed forest situations. Three species are naturalized in the ( Murdannia keisak, M. nudiflora and M. spirata).

The genus is named in honor of Murdan Aly, plant collector and former director of the herbarium at Saharunpore, India.

1. Murdannia acutifolia (Lauterb. & K.Schum.) Faden - New Guinea
2. Murdannia allardii (De Wild.) Brenan - Congo-Brazzaville, Zaïre
3. Murdannia assamica Nampy & Ancy - Assam
4. Murdannia audreyae Faden - Sri Lanka
5. Murdannia axillaris Brenan - Kenya, Zanzibar, Pemba
6. Murdannia blumei (Hassk.) Brenan - Indian Subcontinent, Java, Myanmar, Malaya
7. Murdannia bracteata (C.B.Clarke) J.K.Morton ex D.Y.Hong - southern China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam
8. Murdannia brownii Nandikar & Gurav - western India
9. Murdannia citrina D.Fang - Guangxi in China
10. Murdannia clandestina (Ridl.) Faden - Peninsular Malaysia
11. Murdannia clarkeana Brenan - Central African Republic, Chad, Kenya
12. Murdannia crocea (Griff.) Faden - India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Myanmar
13. Murdannia cryptantha Faden - New Guinea, Queensland, Northern Territory of Australia
14. Murdannia dimorpha (Dalzell) G.Brückn. - southern India
15. Murdannia dimorphoides Faden - Sri Lanka
16. Murdannia divergens (C.B.Clarke) G.Brückn. - southern China, Himalayas, Myanmar, Vietnam
17. Murdannia edulis (Stokes) Faden - southern China, Himalayas, Indochina, Java, Bali, Philippines, New Guinea
18. Murdannia esculenta (Wall. ex C.B.Clarke) R.S.Rao & Kammathy - India, Sri Lanka
19. Murdannia fadeniana Nampy & Joby - Kerala State in India
20. Murdannia fasciata (Warb. ex K.Schum. & Lauterb.) G.Brückn. - New Guinea
21. Murdannia gardneri (Seub.) G.Brückn. - Brazil
22. Murdannia gigantea (Vahl) G.Brückn. - Madagascar, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales
23. Murdannia glauca (Thwaites ex C.B.Clarke) G.Brückn. - India, Sri Lanka
24. Murdannia graminea (R.Br.) G.Brückn. - Vietnam, Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales, Western Australia
25. Murdannia hookeri (C.B.Clarke) G.Brückn. - Assam, southern China
26. Murdannia japonica (Thunb.) Faden - China, Japan, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Borneo
27. Murdannia juncoides (Wight) R.S.Rao & Kammathy - Kerala + Tamil Nadu in India
28. Murdannia kainantensis (Masam.) D.Y.Hong - southern China
29. Murdannia keisak (Hassk.) Hand.-Mazz. - Japan, Korea, Ryukyu Islands, Russia (Amur + Primorye), Taiwan, Laos, Vietnam, Nepal; naturalized in parts of United States
30. Murdannia lanceolata (Wight) Kammathy - India, Sri Lanka
31. Murdannia lanuginosa (Wall. ex C.B.Clarke) G.Brückn. - southern India
32. Murdannia loriformis (Hassk.) R.S.Rao & Kammathy - China, Taiwan, Tibet, Ryukyu Islands, Bonin Islands, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Java, Philippines, New Guinea
33. Murdannia macrocarpa D.Y.Hong - Yunnan, Guangdong, Cambodia
34. Murdannia medica (Lour.) D.Y.Hong - Yunnan, Guangdong, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam
35. Murdannia nudiflora (L.) Brenan - southern China, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Western Australia, Micronesia; naturalized in Hawaii, southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, West Indies, northern South America, Sierra Leone, Congo-Brazzaville, Cook Islands
36. Murdannia paraguayensis (C.B.Clarke ex Chodat) G.Brückn. - Paraguay, Brazil
37. Murdannia pauciflora (G.Brückn.) G.Brückn. - southern India
38. Murdannia sahyadrica Ancy & Nampy - Maharashtra
39. Murdannia satheeshiana Joby, Nisha & Unni - southern India
40. Murdannia schomburgkiana (Kunth) G.Brückn. - Guyana, Brazil
41. Murdannia semifoliata(C.B.Clarke ex S.Moore) G.Brückn. - Brazil
42. Murdannia semiteres (Dalzell) Santapau - Zaire, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Iran, Yemen, India, Vietnam
43. Murdannia simplex (Vahl) Brenan - sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Indian Subcontinent, southern China, Indochina, Queensland
44. Murdannia spectabilis (Kurz) Faden - southern China, Indochina, Philippines
45. Murdannia spirata (L.) G.Brückn. - southern China, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Java, Philippines; naturalized in Florida + Samoa
46. Murdannia stenothyrsa (Diels) Hand.-Mazz. - Sichuan, Yunnan
47. Murdannia striatipetala Faden - Sri Lanka
48. Murdannia stricta Brenan - Zaire, Rwanda
49. Murdannia tenuissima (A.Chev.) Brenan - tropical Africa
50. Murdannia triquetra (Wall. ex C.B.Clarke) G.Brückn. - southern China, Indochina, Himalayas
51. Murdannia undulata D.Y.Hong - Yunnan
52. Murdannia vaginata (L.) G.Brückn. - southern China, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Java, Philippines, Queensland, Northern Territory
53. Murdannia versicolor (Dalzell) G.Brückn. - India, Vietnam, Philippines
54. Murdannia yunnanensis D.Y.Hong - Yunnan
55. Murdannia zeylanica (C.B.Clarke) G.Brückn. - India, Sri Lanka