L195 
TRADESCANTIA VIRGINICA. VIRGINIAN 
TRADESCANTIA, or SPIDERWORT. 
SEER ees leaks aeate sie se. 
Clafs and Order. 
Hexanpria Monocynia. 
Generic Chara@er. 
Calyx triphyllus. Petala 3. Filamenfa villis articulatis. Cap- 
Jula 3-locularis. 
Specific Charafer and Synonyms. 3 
TRADESCANTIA Virginica ere&ta levis, floribus congeftis. 
| Linn. Syft. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. P- 314- 
oo pe Phat tk. : 
ALLIUM five moly Virginianum. Banh. Pin. 506. 
PHALANGIUM Ephemerum Virginianum Joannis Tradef- 
cant. 
The foon-fading Spiderwort of Virginia, or Tradefcant his 
Spiderwort. Park. Parad. 152. 5. t. 151. f. 4. 
Under the name of Spiderwort, the old Botanifts arranged 
many plants of very different genera: the name is faid to 
have arifen from the fuppofed efficacy of fome of thefe 
plants, in curing the bite of a kind of {fpider, called Phalan- 
gium ; not the Phalangium of LINNEUs, which is known to 
be perfettly harmlefs: under this name, PARKINSON mi- 
nutely defcribes it; he mentions alfo, how he firft obtained it. 
“ This Spiderwort,” fays our venerable author, “ is of late 
knowledge, and for it the Chriftian world is indebted unto 
that painful, induftrious fearcher, John Tradefcant, who 
firft received it of a friend that brought it out of Virginia, 
and hath imparted hereof, as of many other things, both 
“to me and others.” 
Tournerorr afterwards gave it the name of Ephemerum, 
expreffive of the fhort duration of its flowers, which Lin- 
Neus changed to Tradefcantia. ? 
Though a native of Virgina, it bears the feverity of our — 
climate uninjured, and being a beautiful, as well as hardy 
- perennial, is found in almoft every garden. : 
_ Though each bloffom lafts but a day, it has fuch a pro- 
fufion in ftore, that it is feldom found without flowers through 
the whole of the fummer. There are two yarieties of it, the 
one with white the other with pale purple flowers. The moft 
it 9 
ee 
ce 
« 
ufual way of propagating it is by parting its roots in autumDs 
to obtain Varieties, we muft fow its feeds. 
