238 



COMMELINACEAE 



bracts Avholly unlike the leaves. Sepals 3. Petals 3, ^vhite or colored, distinct. Sta- 

 mens 6: filaments glabrous. Capsule loculicidally 3-valved. Seed with a rough testa. 



1, Tradescantella Floridana (S. Wats.) Small. Stems creeping, slender, more or 

 less matted, flaccid, 1-3 dm. long: leaf -blades ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 1-2 cm. long, 

 tliinnish, acute, ciliolate; sheaths funnelform, minutely roughened, fringed with long 

 white cilia: cymes solitary or 2 together, terminal, their peduncles 0.5-1. .5 cm. long, sub- 

 tended by ovate or ovate-lanceolate bracts: pedicels filiform, 2-6 mm. long, villous or 

 somewhat glandular: sepals ovate, about 2-3 mm. long, acutish, pur^jle, pubescent, cilio- 

 late: petals white: filaments glabrous: anther-sacs contiguous: capsules oval, nearly 2 

 mm. long, glabrous. [Tradescantia Floridana S. Wats.] 

 In damp shady places, peninsular Florida. Throiighout the year. 



4. TRADESCANTIA L. 



Perennial caulescent herbs, sometimes with a mucilaginous sap. Leaves alternate: 



blades often elongated, usually narrow. Cymes umbel-like, terminal, subtended by an 



involucre of 1-3 (mostly 2) bracts similar to the leaves. Sepals 3, distinct, nearly 



equal. Petals 3, showy, sessile, delicate. Stamens 6, all fertile, those opposite the 



petals sometimes shorter than the others: filaments filiform. Capsule loculicidally 



3-valved, dry. Seeds 3-6, more or less sculptured. Spiderwort. 



Leaf-blades linear or linear-lanceolate, 12-50 times longer than broad, more or less 

 involutely folded. 

 Stems abbreviated, 1 cm. to rarely 8 cm. long: bracts mostly longer than the 



leaves. 1. T. brevicauUs. 



Stems elongated, 10-100 cm. long: bracts mostly shorter than the leaves. 

 Sheaths not imbricated at the base of the stem. 



Stems glabrous, at least below the upper internodes: pubescence, when 

 present on other parts, villous and silvery, or velvety. 

 Plants bright green: pedicels pilose or villous: sepals pilose or villous, 

 becoming membranous. 

 Pedicels and sepals pilose with gland-tipped hairs. 



Bracts usually much broader than the leaves near the sac-like 



bases. 2. T. bracteaia. 



Bracts usually narrower than the leaves, the base not conspicu- 



ou.sIy sac-like. 3. T. occidentalis. 



Pedicels and sepals villous with simple hairs. 4. T. Virginiana. 



Plants glaucous: pedicels glabrous or velvety: sepals often with a tuft 

 of hairs at the apex, leathery. 

 Bracts of the involucre much longer than the cyme. 



Pedicels glabrous: bases of the involucral bracts not sac-like. 5. T. reflexa. 



Pedicels pubescent: bases of the involucral bracts conspicu- 

 ously sac-like. 

 Bracts of the involucre shorter than the cyme. 

 Stems hirsute with brownish or whitish hairs. 

 Sheaths imbricated for .5-20 cm. at the base of the stem. 



Plants densely glandular: sepals linear-lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong, 

 8—10 mm. long. 

 Stems 1-3 dm. tall: leaf-blades 0.8-2 dm. long: Texas species. 

 Stems 4-.5 dm. tall: leaf-blades 2-4 dm. long: Plorida species. 

 Plant glabrous, except the villous sheaths at the base of the stem: sepals 



ovate or oblong, 7 mm. long. 11. T. foliosa. 



Leaf-blades ovate to lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, 2-10 times longer than 

 broad, flat. 

 Stems glabrous, or pubescent with very short hairs. 



Leaf-blades 2-3 times longer than broad, 1-7 em. long. 



Sepals pubescent chiefly toward the base: native Texan species. 12. T. micrantha. 



Sepals pubescent chiefly toward the apex: introduced species. 13. T. fluminensis. 



Leaf-blades 5-10 times longer than broad, 10-25 cm. long. 



Slender: stems strict: cymes solitary and terminal or on corymbose 



branches: Alleghenian species. 14. T. montana. 



Stout: stems zigzag: cymes terminal and sessile in the upper axils: cam- 



pestrian species. 15. T. pilosa. 



Stems clothed with long villous hairs. 16. T. comata. 



1. Tradescantia brevicaulis Eaf. Stems usually clustered, erect, almost wanting, 

 or 1-8 cm. tall, simi^le: leaf -blades linear or narrowly linear, 1.5-3 dm. long, flattish, 

 acute or sometimes rather obtuse; sheaths 1-2.5 em. long, villous, mostly imbricated: 

 bracts 2, nearly equal, longer than the leaves: pedicels stoutish, 3.5-5.5 cm. long, vil- 

 lous: cymes 5-15-flowered: sepals ovate or oblong-ovate, 10-11 mm. long, obtuse: 

 corolla mostly purplish blue, about 2 cm. broad: petals suborbicular, obtuse, delicately 

 veined: mature capsule not seen. 



On hillsides and in woods, IlHnois to Missouri and Tennessee. Spring. 



2. Tradescantia bracteata Small. Stems rather stocky, often clustered, erect or 

 ascending, 1-2 dm. tall or rarely somewhat taller, sometimes sparingly branched: leaf- 

 blades broadly linear or linear-lanceolate, 1-2 dm. long, involutely folded, curved; 



9. 

 10. 



T. gigantea. 

 T. incarnata. 

 T. hirsuticaulis. 



T. humilia. 

 T. longifolia. 



