Tradescantia fluminensis |
Tradescantia roseolens |
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small-leaf spiderwort, white-flower wandering jew |
longleaf spiderwort |
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Habit | Herbs, decumbent, rooting at nodes. | Herbs, erect or ascending, rarely rooting at nodes. |
Roots | thin, fibrous, 0.5–1(–2) mm thick. |
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Stems | unbranched or sparsely branched, 19–60 cm; internodes puberulent with glandular or eglandular hairs, rarely pilose or glabrous. |
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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. |
spirally arranged, sessile; blade linear-lanceolate, 10–42 × 0.5–1.6 cm (distal leaf blades equal to or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), apex acuminate, somewhat glaucous, puberulent to pilosulose, rarely glabrescent. |
Inflorescences | terminal, becoming leaf-opposed, sometimes axillary from distalmost leaf axil, 1–2 cyme pairs per stem; bracts mostly foliaceous, occasionally reduced. |
terminal, often axillary; 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. |
rose-scented, distinctly pedicillate; pedicels 1–2.8 cm, glandular-puberulent; sepals 6–12 mm, glandular-puberulent, glandular hairs numerous and conspicuous, often mixed with eglandular hairs, usually with apical tuft of eglandular hairs, all hairs less than 1mm; petals distinct, broadly deep blue to magenta, ovate, not clawed, 10–14 mm; stamens free; filaments bearded. |
Capsules | 5–7 mm. |
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Seeds | 3–4 mm. |
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2n | = 24. |
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Tradescantia fluminensis |
Tradescantia roseolens |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | Flowering late winter–summer (Feb–Aug). |
Habitat | Woods, roadsides, and open areas, sometimes as weed | Oak and oak-palmetto scrub, oak woods, pine woods, hammocks, sandhills, roadsides, and open areas, sandy soil |
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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AL; FL; GA; SC
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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.) |
Although E. Anderson and R. E. Woodson Jr. (1935) do not report eglandular hairs on the sepals in Tradescantia roseolens, they are present in nearly all specimens. While some eglandular hairs might be the result of hybridization, in general they seem to be part of the normal variation in this species. The illegitimate name Tradescantia longifolia Small (a later homonym of T. longifolia Sessé and Mociño 1894) has been used for this species. (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 | Vellozo: Florae Fluminensis 140; plate vol. 3, 152. (1829) | Small: Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 51:379. (1924) |
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