SPIDERWORT FAMILY. 377 
2. TRADESCANTIA L. Sp. Pl. 288. 1753. 
Perennial, somewhat mucilaginous herbs, with simple or branched stems, mostly nar- 
row and elongated leaves, and showy regular flowers in terminal or terminal and axillary 
umbels subtended by leaf-like or scarious bracts. Sepals 3, distinct, herbaceous. Petals 
3, obovate, ovate or orbicular, sessile. Stamens 6, all alike and fertile, or those opposite the 
petals shorter; filaments bearded or glabrous. Ovary 3-celled, the cells 2-ovuled. Capsule 
3-celled, loculicidally 3-valved, 3-12-seeded. [In honor of John Tradescant, gardener to 
Charles I, died 1638. ] 
About 35 species, natives of tropical and temperate America, Besides the following, some 6 
others occur in the southern United States. 
Umbel or umbels sessile, subtended by long leaf-like bracts. 
Umbels solitary or 2-4; stem straight; leaves narrow. 
Stem glabrous or merely pubescent, 8’-2%° tall. 
Sepals oblong-lanceolate, 4'’-10'’ long; flowers 1'-2' broad. 
Sepals lanceolate, 3''-4"' long; flowers less than 1’ broad. 
Whole plant long-villous; nearly or quite acaulescent. 
Umbels 3-8, axillary and terminal; stem mostly flexuous; leaves broad. 
Umbel peduncled, subtended by small scarious bracts; leaves narrow. 
T. Virginiana. 
T. montana. 
T. brevicaulis, 
T. pilosa. 
T. rosea. 
AEODe 
1. Tradescantia Virginiana I, Spiderwort. (Fig. gio.) 
Tradescantia Virginiana I,. Sp. Pl. 288. 1753. 
Glabrous or slightly pubescent, succulent, Q S 
glaucous or green, stems stout, 8/-3° tall. \ 
Leaves more or less chavneled, or in some Qf 
forms nearly flat, linear or linear-lanceolate, hy ae 
s a ° (Vp) MN Au 
long-acuminate, often more than 1° long, 4//-1 ie 
wide; bracts foliaceous, commonly rather wider 
and shorter than the leaves; umbels solitary 
and terminal or rarely 2-4, loosely several- JS 
many-flowered; pedicels glabrous or pubescent, Ly \ 
slender; flowers blue or purplish, rarely white, 
1/-2’ broad, very showy; sepals oblong or ob- 
long-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, glabrous or 
pubescent, 4’’-10’’ long, much longer than the 
capsule. 
In rich soil, mostly in woods and thickets, south- 
ern New York to Ohio and South Dakota, south to | 
Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas. Ascends to 4000 | 
ft. in Virginia; variable, perhaps includes several 
species; May-Aug. 
Tradescantia Virginiana occidentalis Britton. 
Leaves narrowly linear, 2'’—3'' wide; flowers commonly smaller. Wisconsin to Missouri, Texas 
and New Mexico. May be a distinct species. 
2. Tradescantia montana Shuttlw. 
Mountain Spiderwort. (Fig. 911.) 
Tradescantia montana Shuttlw. in Distrib. Pl. 
Rugel. 
Green and glabrous or somewhat pubescent, 
stems slender, simple or sparingly branched, 
1°-2° tall. Leaves lanceolate or linear-lanceo- 
late, 4’-10’ long, 2//-6’’ wide, mostly distant, 
their sheaths enlarged; bracts similar to the 
leaves but shorter; umbels mostly solitary and 
terminal, sessile in the bracts, rather densely 
flowered; pedicels and calyx glabrous or pubes- 
cent; flowers less than 1’ broad; sepals lanceo- 
late, acute, about 3’’ long. 
In woods and thickets, mountains of southwest- 
ern Virginia to Kentucky and Georgia. June-Aug. 
