Tradescantia fluminensis |
Tradescantia pinetorum |
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small-leaf spiderwort, white-flower wandering jew |
pinewoods spiderwort |
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Habit | Herbs, decumbent, rooting at nodes. | Herbs, erect to ascending, rarely rooting at nodes. |
Roots | sometimes tuberous. |
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Stems | sparsely branched, 8–39 cm, scabridulous or rarely glabrescent. |
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Leaves | 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. |
blade linear-lanceolate, 1–10 × 0.15–0.8 cm (distal leaf blades wider or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), firmly membranaceous, glaucous, glabrous. |
Inflorescences | terminal, becoming leaf-opposed, sometimes axillary from distalmost leaf axil, 1–2 cyme pairs per stem; bracts mostly foliaceous, occasionally reduced. |
terminal, solitary, or frequently with 1–3 axillary inflorescences from distal nodes; bracts foliaceous. |
Flowers | 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. |
distinctly pedicillate; pedicels 0.8–1 cm, glandular-puberulent; sepals frequently suffused with red, glaucous, 4–6 mm, glandular-puberulent; petals distinct, bright blue to rose and purple, not clawed, 9–12 mm; stamens free; filaments bearded. |
Capsules | 3–4 mm. |
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Seeds | 1.5–2 mm; hilum much shorter than seed. |
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Tradescantia fluminensis |
Tradescantia pinetorum |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | Flowering summer–fall (Jul–Sep). |
Habitat | Woods, roadsides, and open areas, sometimes as weed | Moist canyons and stream banks |
Elevation | 1700–3000 m (5600–9800 ft) | |
Distribution |
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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AZ; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora)
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Discussion | 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.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22. |
Parent taxa | Commelinaceae > Tradescantia | Commelinaceae > Tradescantia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Vellozo: Florae Fluminensis 140; plate vol. 3, 152. (1829) | Greene: Erythea 1: 247. (1893) |
Web links |