Tradescantia ernestiana
Tradescantia subaspera
Ernest's spiderwort
zigzag spiderwort
(1–)1.5–5 mm thick, fleshy.
not flexuous, 5–40 cm;
internodes usually glabrous.
often flexuous, 30–100 cm;
internodes pilose to glabrescent.
spirally arranged, sessile;
blade dull green, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong, 9–27 × 1–4 cm (distal leaf blades wider than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), base cuneate to rounded, apex acuminate, not glaucous, glabrous or sparsely puberulent.
spirally arranged, at least proximal ones distinctly petiolate;
blade dark green, lanceolate-oblong to lanceolate-elliptic or lanceolate, 6–30 × (0.4–)1–6.5 cm (distal leaf blades wider than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), apex acuminate, glabrous to puberulent.
terminal;
bracts foliaceous.
terminal, usually also axillary at distal nodes, axillary inflorescences sessile or variously pedunculate;
bracts foliaceous.
distinctly pedicillate;
pedicels 2–3.2 cm, minutely pilose;
sepals somewhat inflated, 9–16 mm, uniformly eglandular-pilose;
petals distinct, deep blue, purple, or rose-red, broadly ovate, not clawed, 1.2–1.5 cm;
stamens free;
filaments bearded.
distinctly pedicillate;
pedicels 1–1.7 cm, pilose to glabrous;
sepals 4–10 mm, puberulent with glandular, eglandular, or mixture of glandular, eglandular hairs, occasionally glabrous;
petals distinct, light to dark blue, rarely white, broadly ovate, not clawed, 10–15 mm;
stamens free;
filaments bearded.
5–7 mm.
4–6 mm.
2–3 mm.
2–3 mm.
= 12.
= 12, 24.
Tradescantia ernestiana
Tradescantia subaspera
Tradescantia ernestiana is sympatric with, and easily confused with, T. virginiana in northern Alabama and perhaps northern Georgia [reported from Georgia by C. Sinclair (1967, p. 87), but no specimens are cited and I have seen none]. At present, the two species can be separated only by the relative width of the blade and sheath of the distal leaves. They are obviously closely related and should be studied in the field in the southern Appalachians where their ranges overlap. The Texas record is taken from C. Sinclair (1967).
The hybrid Tradescantia ernestinana × T. ozarkana is known from Arkansas and Missouri.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Two varieties are recognized by E. Anderson and R. E. Woodson Jr. (1935): Tradescantia subaspera var. subaspera, with the stems more or less conspicuously flexuous distally and the distal lateral inflorescences sessile (western extensions of Appalachian Plateau from western West Virginia, central Kentucky, and Tennessee to Illinois and Missouri); and T. subaspera var. montana (Britton) Anderson & Woodson, with the stems straight or only slightly flexuous distally and all the lateral inflorescences pedunculate (southern Appalachians from southwestern Virginia to northern Alabama and Georgia, also the coastal plain from northern Florida to Louisiana). Many specimens can only be determined by their locale, so I do not find the separation of the two varieties very meaningful. The distribution record for the District of Columbia is based on a specimen believed to be a garden escape; that from southern Florida on a specimen cited by C. Sinclair (1967).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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