The Wandering Jew

I've realized that I have yet to post anything plant related on my blog, so I am going to post a very interesting plant that I learnt about during my service learning: the Commelina cyanea.  Some more commonly know names for it are "Scurvy Weed" and "The Wandering Jew."  This type of weed is native to the forests and woodlands of eastern Austrailia, and it's flowers is usually pollinated by bees and flies.  In addition to this, it was actually used by colonists to cure scurvy, hence it's name.  The problem with this plant is that it is a terribly invasive species and spreads like wild fire, which is why my friend Michelle and I had to spend most of our time volunteering trying to pull them out of the garden.  That is how I discovered the plant, my friend and I had been weeding at the Naples Botanical Garden.  When Michelle and I first saw the part of the garden invested with the weed, we had thought it was a plant in the garden.  It was actually quite beautiful, mixed together with the purple plant that was also growing there.  However, the woman directing us told us that the plants with the blue flowers were the weeds, the plants with the purple flowers were the ones that were actually supposed to be growing there.  The Wandering Jew was choking out the purple plant.  To even further our surprise, after we were done weeding out the Commelina cyanea, we discovered that the once lush and green patch of land was now 80% mulch and dirt.  Most of the area that we had seen before was all weed.  If anything, that was what shocked us the most.