240 COMMELINACEAE 



rarely 1, quite similar to the leaves: pedicels 1-2 cm. lon^, glandular-pubescent: sepals 

 ianeeolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, glaii lular-pub&scent and ^\-ith 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 branehecl 

 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 loAver ones surpassing or almost equal- 

 ling the stem in length, gradually narrowed from near the base, flat, densely glandular 

 like the stem; sheaths 2-2.5 cm. long, ciliate with long hairs, imbricated below: bracts 

 2, small, leaf -like or rarely almost wanting : pedicels stoutish, 1.5-2 cm. long : sepals 

 linear-lanceolate or linear-oblong, 1 cm. long, obtuse: corolla deep blue, 2.5-3 cm. 

 broad: capsules oblong, 8-9 mm. long, glandular: seeds oblong or ovoid, more or less 

 flattened, gray, conspicuously marked with iregular transverse ridges. 



In sandy pine lands, Florida. Spring and summer. 



11. Tradescantia foliosa 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 nun. long, obtuse, two strongly 

 hooded and with a tuft of hairs near the apex, one scarcelly hooded and nearly gla- 

 brous at the apex: corolla bine, about 2 cm. broad: capsules oblong, 5-6 mm. long, gla- 

 brous : 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 

 cm. long, acute, kee'led beneath, often slightly reflexed, somewhat scabrous on the mar- 

 gins; 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 fluminensis Veil. 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. long, 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, acumi- 

 nate, flat; sheaths 1-2 cm. long, ciliate: bracts 2, lanceolate, one of which is at least 

 one-hajf smaller than the other: pedicels slender, 1-1.2 cm. long: sepals ovate or oblong, 

 sometimes apparently lanceolate from the involute edges, 5^ mm. long, pilose or vil- 

 lous, obtuse, hooded, often minutely glandular: corolla blue, 2-2.5 cm. broad: petals 

 suborbicu'lar 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 tubercu- 

 late and coarsely granular. 



On sandy hillsides in the Allegheny Mountains from Virginia to North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. 

 Spring and summer. 



15. Tradescantia pilosa 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 cm. long',cilia.te, 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 cm. long, villous-pilose, or often glabrate: cymes usually crowded at ma- 

 turity : sepals ovate or oblong, about 7 mm. long', apparently lanceolate from their invo- 

 lute edges, two strongly hooded, mostly villous-pilose: corolla pale blue or deep blue, 

 large, 2.5-3 cm,, broad: petals ovate-orbicular, obtuse: ca,i3sules globose-oblong, 5 mm. 

 long, constricted at the middle, pilose at the summit: seeds oblong or ovoid, 2-3 mm. long. 



In thickets and on shaded hillsides, Ohio to Missouri, West Virginia, Alabama and Tennessee. Spring 

 and summer. 



