Flora of North America species comparison

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Tradescantia spathacea

boat-lily, moses-in-the-cradle, oyster-plant
Habit Herbs, erect or ascending, rarely rooting at nodes.
Stems

unbranched, short.
Leaves

spirally arranged;

blade usually abaxially purple, adaxially green, strap-shaped, to 35 × 5 cm (distal leaf blades wider or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), leathery, succulent, glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary, sessile, or pedunculate in axils well below shoot apex, cymes enclosed in pairs of boat-shaped spathes.
Flowers

distinctly pedicillate;

pedicels glabrous;

sepals distinct, white, 3–6 mm, glabrous;

petals distinct, white, ovate, not clawed;

stamens free;

filaments bearded.
Capsules

3- or (by abortion) 2-locular, 3–4 mm.
Seeds

1 per locule, 3–4 mm.
2n

= 12 (Belize).

Tradescantia spathacea
Phenology Flowering winter (Jan).
Habitat Occasionally escaped to hammocks and weedy places
Distribution
from FNA
FL; Mexico; Central America; West Indies [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Tradescantia spathacea is native to southern Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 22.
Parent taxa Commelinaceae > Tradescantia
Sibling taxa
T. bracteata, T. brevifolia, T. buckleyi, T. crassifolia, T. crassula, T. edwardsiana, T. ernestiana, T. fluminensis, T. gigantea, T. hirsuticaulis, T. hirsutiflora, T. humilis, T. leiandra, T. longipes, T. occidentalis, T. ohiensis, T. ozarkana, T. pallida, T. paludosa, T. pedicellata, T. pinetorum, T. reverchonii, T. roseolens, T. subacaulis, T. subaspera, T. tharpii, T. virginiana, T. wrightii, T. zebrina
Synonyms Rhoeo discolor, Rhoeo spathacea
Name authority Swartz: Prodr. 57. (1788)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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