I have been unsuccessful trying to identify a plant I inherited. The flowers are violet, with two petals on top (like ears) and yellow stigma hanging down below it. The flowers bloom from green pods that on the stems of the plants and all of the stems shoot off of eachother. The flowers, I found, bloom until early afternoon and then seem to go back into their pods for the rest of the day. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much tipularia!! Sadly, I found out that they're considered a weed because of their invasiveness. Maybe I should stop watering it; I don't want it to spread in the neighborhood. It's a pity - the flowers are so pretty!
Depends on the species - some species of Commelina are native in NY: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=COMME Scroll down to the species maps, those in green are native, in grey are not. Clicking on the maps will take you to pages for each species, often with photos.