Tradescantia virginiana
Tradescantia wrightii
Virginia spiderwort, éphémère de virginie
Wright's spiderwort
(1.5–)2–4 mm thick, fleshy.
5–35 cm;
internodes glabrous or occasionally distal internodes sparsely puberulent.
unbranched, 5–18 cm.
spirally arranged, sessile;
blade linear-lanceolate, 13–37 × 0.4–2.5 cm (distal leaf blades equal to or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), apex acuminate, glabrous or occasionally 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 and (rarely) axillary;
bracts foliaceous, well developed, not saccate, sparsely to densely pilose.
terminal, solitary;
bracts foliaceous.
distinctly pedicillate;
pedicels 1.2–3.5 cm, eglandular-pilose or puberulent;
sepals ± inflated, 7–16 mm, uniformly eglandular-pilose;
petals distinct, blue to purple, occasionally rose or white, broadly ovate, not clawed, 1.2–2 cm;
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.
4–7 mm.
3–4 mm.
2–3 mm.
2–3 mm.
= 6.
= 12, 24.
Tradescantia virginiana
Tradescantia wrightii
The records from the northern parts of the range of Tradescantia virginiana may all represent garden escapes (E. Anderson 1954). The uncertainty about the records from Arkansas and Mississippi reflects the difficulty in identifying some specimens. The specimens in question come from areas in which T. hirsutiflora (but not T. virginiana) has been recorded (E. Anderson and R. E. Woodson Jr. 1935). The exact geographic boundaries between these putatively allopatric species are uncertain. D. T. MacRoberts (1980b) has made a useful contribution toward our knowledge of these species.
(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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