Tradescantia crassifolia |
Tradescantia fluminensis |
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leatherleaf spiderwort |
small-leaf spiderwort, white-flower wandering jew |
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Habit | Herbs, erect, rarely rooting at nodes. | Herbs, decumbent, rooting at nodes. |
Roots | tuberous, thick. |
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Stems | unbranched or sparsely branched, arachnoid-villous. |
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Leaves | 2-ranked, narrowing toward shoot apex; blade lanceolate-elliptic to ovate, 4–15 × 2–3.5 cm (distal leaf blades wider or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), base cordate-clasping, sparsely pilose to densely arachnoid-villous. |
2-ranked; blade lanceolate-elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, 2.5–5 × 1–2 cm (distal leaf blades wider or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), margins ciliolate, apex acute, glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, 1–4 axillary, sessile in axils of distal reduced leaves, boat-shaped spathes absent. |
terminal, becoming leaf-opposed, sometimes axillary from distalmost leaf axil, 1–2 cyme pairs per stem; bracts mostly foliaceous, occasionally reduced. |
Flowers | distinctly pedicillate; pedicels 0.6–1.4 cm, densely arachnoid-villous; sepals 6.5–8 mm, pilose to densely arachnoid-pubescent; petals distinct, rose-purple to bluish, not clawed, 10–15 mm; stamens free; filaments bearded. |
distinctly pedicillate; pedicels 1–1.5 cm, glandular-pilose; sepals 5–7 mm, midrib pilose with eglandular hairs; petals distinct, white, not clawed, 8–9 mm; stamens free; filaments white, densely bearded with white hairs. |
Capsules | 3.5–4 mm. |
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Seeds | 2 mm. |
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2n | = 12, 24, 24+ (Mexico). |
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Tradescantia crassifolia |
Tradescantia fluminensis |
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Phenology | Flowering summer–early fall. | Flowering spring–fall. |
Habitat | Specific habitat unkown | Woods, roadsides, and open areas, sometimes as weed |
Distribution |
TX; Mexico; to Central America (Guatemala)
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AL; CA; FL; LA; native; South America (Brazil–Argentina); Africa (South Africa); Australia [Introduced in North America; introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Although not recorded in any U.S. flora or checklist, Tradescantia crassifolia has been added to the flora based on an old collection from the Chenati Mountains in Texas. Another specimen labeled New Mexico is considered less credible. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
This species was recorded north to North Carolina (J. K. Small 1933), but I have not seen any supporting records from Georgia or North Carolina. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22. |
Parent taxa | Commelinaceae > Tradescantia | Commelinaceae > Tradescantia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Cavanilles: Icon. 1: 54, plate 75. (1791) | Vellozo: Florae Fluminensis 140; plate vol. 3, 152. (1829) |
Web links |