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Tradescantia fuscata. Stemless 

 Spider-wort. 



Class and Order. 



Hexandria Monogvma. 



Generic Character. 



Cal. 3-phyllus. Petala 3. Filamenta villis articulatis. 

 Caps. 3-locularis. Sem. papilla embryotega instructa. 



Specific Character and Synonyms. 



Tradescantia fuscata; acaulis, hispida, foliis oblongo- 



ovatis multinerviis, scapis sub-trifloris. 



Tradescantia fuscata. Lodd. Bot. Cab. 374. Bot. Res: 



482. 6 ' 



Tradescantia fuscata is at once distinguished from all 

 the known species by the difference in its habit ; the leaves 

 being all radical, and the flowers coming up immediately 

 from the roots, on leafless scapes generally about three in 

 succession on each. 



It has its name from the brownish red hairs with which 

 the whole plant, except the corolla, is covered. 



In Jussieu's natural orders Tradescantia is inserted with 

 the Juncece from which Mr. Brown has very advantageously 

 separated it, by establishing the natural order of Commelinea 

 (vide Prodr. Florae Nov. Holl. p. 268.) 



This genus, as well as several others, it has been obser- 

 ved by Sir James E. Smith, militates very strongly against 

 Jussieu's theory, that no monocotyledonous plants can have 

 a corolla ; and though his followers endeavour to get over 

 the objection, by calling what is most evidently a corolla 

 by the name of interior laciniae of the calyx, yet, to our 

 apprehension, no plant has both a calyx and corolla more 

 decidedly distinct than all the species of Tradescantia 



And 



