240 COMMELINACEAE 
ilar to the leaves : pedicels 1-2 cm. long, glandular-pubescent : sepals lanceolate or oblong- 
lanceolate, acute or acuminate, glandular-pubescent and with tufts of simple hairs near the 
apex : petals pale blue or pink, obtuse : capsules 5-6 mm. long, pubescent. 
On plains and prairies, Texas. Spring and summer. 
10. Tradescantia longifolia Small. Stems, like the rest of the foliage, glandular, 
usually solitary, erect or assurgent, 4-5 dm. tall, strict, sometimes sparingly branched above : 
leaf-blades brown-green, linear or nearly so, chiefly basal or confined to the lower part of the 
stem, 2-4 dm. long, even the lower ones surpassing or almost equalling the stem in length, 
gradually narrowed from near the base, flat, densely glandular like the stem ; sheaths 2-2.5 
em. long, ciliate with long hairs, imbricated below: bracts 2, small, leaf-like or rarely 
almost wanting: pedicels stoutish, 1.5-2 em. long : sepals linear-lanceolate or linear-oblong, 
1 em. long, obtuse: corolla deep blue, 2.5-3 em. broad: capsules oblong, 8-9 mm. long, 
glandular: seeds oblong or ovoid, more or less flattened, gray, conspicuously marked with 
irregular transverse ridges. 
In sandy pine lands, Florida. Spring and summer. 
11. Tradescantia folidsa Small. Stems often solitary, 4-7 dm. tall, simple or 
nearly so, very leafy near the base, glabrous or glabrate: leaf-blades narrowly linear, 2-6 
dm. long, nearly equalling or surpassing the stem, long-attenuate, crowded at the base ; 
sheaths large, often densely long-villous, imbricated and sheathing the stem for 1-2 dm., 
prominently ribbed : bracts 3, unequal: pedicels slender, 1-1.5 cm. long: cymes dense at 
maturity : sepals ovate or oblong, about 7 mm. long, obtuse, two strongly hooded and with 
a tuft of hairs near the apex, one scarcely hooded and nearly glabrous at the apex : corolla 
blue, about 2 em. broad : capsules oblong, 5-6 mm. long, glabrous: seeds irregular, 2-2.5 
mm. long, not much longer than broad. 
In clay soil, chiefly in hammocks, eastern and peninsular Florida. Spring. 
12. Tradescantia micrantha Torr. Stems slender, sometimes creeping, 1-2 dm. 
long, spreading, leafy to the top: leaves few ; blades thickish, ovate to lanceolate, 1-3 em. 
long, acute, keeled beneath, often slightly reflexed, somewhat scabrous on the margins ; 
sheaths 1-3 mm. long, villous at the mouth: bracts 2, or rarely solitary, leaf-like: cyme 
terminal, about 6-flowered : pedicels 12-16 mm. long, glabrous: buds acute : sepals nearly 
equal, greenish, 6 mm. long, pubescent along the keel chiefly toward the base: petals bright 
pink, slightly longer than the sepals, orbicular or broadly ovate: filaments pubescent 
below: anther-sacs separated by a broad connective. 
In rich soil, southern Texas. Spring to fall. 
13. Tradescantia fluminénsis Vell. Stems*more or less diffusely branched at the 
base, the branches spreading, or decumbent and creeping, 2-9 dm. long, often branched : 
leaves rather numerous; blades ovate or oblong-ovate, 2-6 cm. long, acute or slightly 
acuminate, ciliolate, rounded or subcordate at the base ; sheaths 4-6 mm. Jong, ciliate with 
villous hairs: cymes sessile, few-flowered: bracts 2, unequal, similar to the leaves but 
smaller: pedicels slender, 5-15 mm. long, oblong-ovate, apparently narrower, minutely 
pubescent without and chiefly toward the apex : corolla white. 
In sandy soil, North Carolina to Florida. Naturalized from South America. Spring to fall. 
14. Tradescantia montana Shuttl. Stems usually solitary, slender, 3-7 dm. tall, 
straight or nearly so, rarely sparingly branched above: leaf-blades narrowly lanceolate or 
linear-lanceolate, 1-3 dm. long, usually minutely pubescent, or rarely glabrate, acuminate, 
flat ; sheaths 1-2 em. long, ciliate: bracts 2, lanceolate, one of which is at least one-half 
smaller than the other : pedicels slender, 1-1.2 cm. long : sepals ovate or oblong, sometimes 
apparently lanceolate from the involute edges, 5-6 mm. long, pilose or villous, obtuse, 
hooded, often minutely glandular: corolla blue, 2-2.5 cm. broad: petals suborbicular or 
orbicular-ovate : capsules oblong or oval, 5-6 mm. long, glabrous, or pilose especially above 
the middle: seeds oval-oblong, 3 mm. long, irregularly tuberculate and coarsely granular. 
On sandy hillsides in the Allegheny Mountains from Virginia to North Carolina, Georgia and 
Alabama. Spring and summer. 
15. Tradescantia pilósa J. G. C. Lehm. Stems stout, 4-8 dm. tall, flexuous, often 
puberulent, leafy to the top, usually sparingly branched: leaf-blades lanceolate or some- 
times rather narrowly lanceolate, 1-2.5 em. long, ciliate, inconspicuously ribbed : involucre 
of 2-3 bracts similar to the leaves, one about twice as long as the others : pedicels normally 
slender, 1.5-2 em. long, villous-pilose, or often glabrate : cymes usually crowded at ma- 
turity : sepals ovate or oblong, about 7 mm. long, apparently lanceolate from their involute 
edges, two strongly hooded, mostly villous-pilose: corolla pale blue or deep blue, large, 
2.5-3 em. broad: petals ovate-orbicular, obtuse : capsules globose-oblong, 5 mm. long, con- 
stricted at the middle, pilose at the summit : seeds oblong or ovoid, 2-3 mm. long. 
In thiekets and on shaded hillsides, Ohio to Missouri, West Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee- 
Spring and summer. 
