Murdannia loriformis aka Severalflower Dewflower

Murdannia loriformis is a herb in the Commelinaceae family. It comes from Asia's tropical and subtropical regions. Its range runs from India and Sri Lanka to New Guinea. It grows in Bangladesh and Vietnam too. Its range includes southern China and southern Japan. Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines also lie within its range. Kew lists it as perennial, meaning it lives for years. Useful Tropical Plants says it can also live as an annual, for one year.

The plant has a fibrous rootstock, with a low rosette of leaves. This ring of leaves sits at the plant's base. Several stems rise from it. Plants reach about 0.5–1.6 feet [0.15–0.5 metres] tall. Some grow beyond that range to 3.3 feet [1 metre]. The source also gives a general height of 1.1 feet [0.35 metres]. These sizes describe the plant, not a tested garden range. The accounts give no width for a full-grown plant. They give no details of its leaves. They name no flower colour or bloom season.

In the wild, it grows in woods and on grassy slopes. It grows at the edges of woods and beside roadside ditches too. Records place it in part shade to full shade. It grows at low to middle heights above sea level. Its home climate is warm and has a clear dry season. This does not prove it copes with drought in garden soil. The source says growers can raise it from seed. It gives no tested frost limit or preferred soil. It gives no plan for when to water it.

People gather wild plants for use in local medicine. In China, healers have used it for colds and flu. They have used it for throat infections too. Reported uses also include pneumonia and diabetes. Other uses include inflammation and early cancer. Its fresh juice drew attention in Thailand in 1984. Reports linked its use to some cancer patients getting better. These reports do not prove it treats cancer in humans. The source also describes tests on an ethanol extract. That work reported effects on pain, fever, and inflammation.

Useful Tropical Plants lists no known food use or other use. It reports no known hazards, but this does not prove safety. It reports low toxicity for the ethanol extract in the study. This does not prove safety for pets or for every preparation. The database gives its 2015 IUCN status as Least Concern.