Flora of North America species comparison

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Tradescantia subaspera

zigzag spiderwort
Habit Herbs, erect or ascending, rarely rooting at nodes.
Stems

often flexuous, 30–100 cm;

internodes pilose to glabrescent.
Leaves

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.
Inflorescences

terminal, usually also axillary at distal nodes, axillary inflorescences sessile or variously pedunculate;

bracts foliaceous.
Flowers

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.
Capsules

4–6 mm.
Seeds

2–3 mm.
2n

= 12, 24.

Tradescantia subaspera
Phenology Flowering spring–fall (May–Sep).
Habitat Rich woods along streams and on slopes and bluffs, less commonly dry woods, roadsides, fields, or along railroads
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MO; MS; NC; OH; SC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)
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. spathacea, T. subacaulis, T. tharpii, T. virginiana, T. wrightii, T. zebrina
Synonyms T. pilosa
Name authority Ker Gawler: Bot. Mag. 39: plate 1597. (1814)
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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