Cyanotis vivipara is a species of plants in the Commelinaceae family.
Description The species is an epiphytic, subscapigerous herb measuring 10–25 cm in length. It is covered with scattered rufous spreading hairs or may become glabrescent in younger plants. The rootstock is small.Dalzell, N. 1851, ‘Cyanotis vivipara’, Hooker’s Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany, vol. 3, p. 226.
Leaves: Both radical and cauline leaves are present. Radical leaves measure 3–8 × 1–2 cm, are sessile, linear to linear-lanceolate, with a narrowed base and an acute or acuminate apex. They are covered with pilose hairs. Cauline leaves are smaller, 1–2 × 0.2–0.5 cm, sessile, ovate to elliptic, with an acute apex and a pilose surface.Gamble, J.S. 1931, Flora of the Madras Presidency, p. 1551, Adlard & Son Ltd., London. (Repr. 1967, vol. 3, p. 1082.)
Scape: The scape is slender, 8–25 cm long, and viviparous at the apex, bearing several small oblong-lanceolate, acute leaves.Kammathy, S. 1987, ‘Cyanotis vivipara’, in Nayar, M.P. & Sastry, A.R.K. (eds), Red Data Book of Indian Plants, vol. 1, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, p. 124.
Inflorescence: The peduncle bears 2–4 flowers arranged in an umbel arising from the leaf axils. It is pilose and provided with two bracts.Karthikeyan, S., Jain, S.K., Nayar, M.P. & Sanjappa, M. 1989, Florae Indicae Enumeratio: Monocotyledonae, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, p. 24.
Flowers: Sepals 3, oblong, 2–3 mm long, and villous. Petals 3, white, connate to the middle. Stamens 6, with naked filaments.Lakshminarasimhan, P. 1996, ‘Cyanotis vivipara’, in Sharma, B.D., Karthikeyan, S. & Singh, N.P. (eds), Flora of Maharashtra State: Monocotyledons, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, p. 147.
Fruit and Seeds: Capsules are oblanceolate, about 3 mm long, obtuse, hairy, and recurved after dehiscence. They are 3-celled, containing two seeds per cell. Seeds are cylindric and smooth.Mishra, D.K. & Singh, N.P. 2001, Endemic and Threatened Flowering Plants of Maharashtra, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, p. 241.
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