Tradescantia subaspera
Tradescantia wrightii
zigzag spiderwort
Wright's spiderwort
often flexuous, 30–100 cm;
internodes pilose to glabrescent.
unbranched, 5–18 cm.
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.
blade linear-lanceolate, 4–10 × 0.2–0.5 cm (distal leaf blades equal to or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), firmly membranaceous to subsucculent, glaucous or glaucescent, glabrous.
terminal, usually also axillary at distal nodes, axillary inflorescences sessile or variously pedunculate;
bracts foliaceous.
terminal, solitary;
bracts foliaceous.
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.
distinctly pedicillate;
pedicels 1.2–1.7 cm, with few to many minute glandular hairs (or glabrous);
sepals glaucous or glaucescent, 0.5–0.6 cm, glabrous or with a few minute glandular hairs at base;
petals distinct, rose to magenta or purple, broadly ovate, not clawed, 1 cm;
stamens free;
filaments bearded.
4–6 mm.
3–4 mm.
2–3 mm.
2–3 mm.
= 6.
= 12, 24.
Tradescantia subaspera
Tradescantia wrightii
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.)
Tradescantia wrightii var. glandulopubescens was described for Mexican plants with glandular-pubescent pedicels and sepals (B. L. Turner 1983), and this variety was listed for Texas (B. L. Turner 1993; S. L. Hatch et al. 1990). All U.S. collections that I have examined, however, including the holotype of T. wrightii, have at least some glandular hairs on these parts. Marshall Johnson believes that this is a valid variety, and I may not have examined typical specimens, but the diagnosis is not differential from the typical variety.
Tradescantia wrightii and T. pinetorum belong to section Tradescantia ser. Tuberosae D. R. Hunt and differ from the species of ser. Virginianae D. R. Hunt (species 1–19) by being geophytes (instead of hemicryptophytes) and in having the hilum much shorter than the seed (instead of ± equal to the seed). Tradescantia wrightii differs from T. pinetorum by its lack of root tubers, its glabrous leaves and internodes, and the absence of lateral inflorescences. The glandular hairs on the pedicels and sepal bases, much shorter than those of T. pinetorum, are easily overlooked.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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