Family: Commelinaceae

Aneilema beniniense (Benin false spiderwort) is a perennial herb native to tropical Africa, from Senegal to Ethiopia and south to Angola, Zambia, and Tanzania. It is a weedy plant of disturbed ground, openings in moist semi-deciduous forest, forest farms, roadsides, fringing woodland, along watercourses in savannah, primary rainforest, and in wet areas around swamps. It is not widely known as an ornamental plant, but it does have small white to pale lilac flowers that some find attractive. It reproduces from seeds and vegetatively from creeping stems and is now reported to be naturalized on the island of Oahu.

High Risk Traits:

• Thrives and spreads in regions with tropical climates
  
• Naturalized on Oahu, Hawaiian Islands
  
• Frequently reported as a weed of various crops and plantations
  
• Other species are invasive weeds
  
• Shade tolerant
  
• Reproduces by seeds and vegetatively from creeping stems.
  
• Self-fertile
  
• Seeds and stems possibly dispersed as garden waste, in soil, as a potential crop contaminant, water and possibly other means (although capsules and seeds do not show any clear adaptations for dispersal)

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
  
• Palatable to cattle and probably other grazing animals
  
• Non-toxic
  
• Herbicides may provide effective control (based on efficacy when on other species in the genus)