Tradescantia zebrina |
Tradescantia hirsuticaulis |
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inchplant, wandering-jew |
hairystem spiderwort |
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Habit | Herbs, decumbent. | Herbs, erect or ascending, rarely rooting at nodes. |
Roots | not brownish-tomentose. |
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Stems | unbranched or sparsely branched, (2–)15–40 cm; internodes densely pilose to glabrescent. |
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Leaves | 2-ranked; blade variegated, abaxially reddish purple, adaxially striped green and white, lanceolate-elliptic to ovate-elliptic, 3–9 × 1.5–3 cm (distal leaf blades wider or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), base oblique, cuneate, apex acute to acuminate. |
spirally arranged, sessile; blade dull green, linear-lanceolate, 10–30 × 0.6–1.6 cm (distal leaf blades equal to or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened) , margins ± densely ciliolate, sometimes also sparsely ciliate, apex acuminate, puberulent and sparsely to densely pilose (rarely glabrescent). |
Inflorescences | terminal, consisting of pairs of sessile cymes enclosed in sheaths of spathaceous bracts, pedunculate; spathaceous bracts foliaceous, reduced. |
terminal, rarely axillary; bracts foliaceous, usually spreading, puberulent, usually sparsely to densely pilose, margins ± densely ciliolate. |
Flowers | subsessile; sepals basally connate, 4–5 mm; petals pink, clawed, claws basally connate forming tube; stamens epipetalous; filaments bearded. |
distinctly pedicillate; pedicels 1.5–3.5 cm, densely pubescent with mixture of glandular, eglandular hairs; sepals suffused with rose or purple, 6–13 mm, pilose with mixture of glandular, eglandular hairs, glandular hairs numerous, conspicuous, longer hairs 1.5–6 mm; petals distinct, rose to bright blue, ovate, not clawed, 11–16 mm; stamens free; filaments bearded. |
Capsules | 3-locular; locules 2-seeded. |
5–6 mm. |
Seeds | 2–3 mm; hilum as long as seed. |
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2n | = 12. |
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Tradescantia zebrina |
Tradescantia hirsuticaulis |
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Phenology | Flowering fall–winter (Sep–Feb). | Flowering spring (Mar–May). |
Habitat | Hummocks and weedy places | Rocky woods on hillsides, also sandy woods, thickets, ledges, rock outcrops, stream banks and roadsides |
Distribution |
FL; native; tropical America [Introduced in North America] |
AL; AR; GA; NC; OK; SC
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Discussion | The separation of specimens nearly without evident stems from Tradescantia longipes is discussed by S. L. Timme and R. B. Faden (1984). The record of T. hirsuticaulis from Texas (C. Sinclair 1967) is not considered credible. The hybrid T. hirsuticaulis × T. virginiana was reported from Alabama (E. Anderson and R. E. Woodson Jr. 1935). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 22. | FNA vol. 22. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Zebrina pendula | |
Name authority | Hort ex Bosse: Vollstandiges Handb. Blumengart. 4: 655. (1849) | Small: Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 24:233. (1897) |
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