SPIDERWORT FAMILY COMMELINACEAE 
SPIDERWORT 
Tradescantia virginiana L. 
The Spiderwort family is small and relatively unim- 
portant, but it contains some well-known plants, among 
which the Wandering Jew, commonly used as a flower-box 
and greenhouse plant, is 
universally recognized. The 
genus name _ Tradescantia 
Cee was given the Spiderworts 
Sy =~ in memory of John Trades- 
AS 
=~ 
SVs bf N cant, gardener to King 
Charles I of England. 
The species virginiana formerly 
did not occur as far west as Illinois but 
it has been extensively grown in gardens, 
and having escaped from cultivation is 
now acommon wild flower in this state. 
Its native soil is Connecticut to South 
Carolina. It can grow well in a wide 
variety of soils and therefore may be 
| found on wet meadows as well as dry. 
\ Sf hillsides. It produces a cluster of 
‘| stems 1-2 feet tall. 
| Each flower consists of 3 green 
) || — sepals, 3 purplish blue petals, 6 stamens 
~ and 1 pistil. The stamens ate conspicu- 
ous because the filaments are purple and bearded with 
long purple hairs, whereas the anthers are bright 
yellow. The flowers bloom in late spring and summer, and each 
one remains open for only a few hours. After the petals have 
closed, the pedicel curves downward so that the fruit develops 
in a recurved position. This is a 2 or 3-celled capsule with 1 or 2 
seeds in each cell. 
The Short-stemmed Spiderwort, Tradescantia brevicaulis Raf., 
is often stemless or nearly so, and with mostly basal grasslike leaves 
6-12 inches long. The 4-12-flowered umbel is sessile in bracts that are 
similar to the leaves but more elongated, and the slender pedicels 
are I-2 inches long and hairy. Sepals are oblong and hairy, and the 
corolla, about 1 inch broad, is blue or more commonly rose-purple. 
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