240 COMMELINACEAE 



ilar to the leaves : pedicels 1-2 cm. long, glandular-pubescent : sepals lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute or acuminate, glandular-pubescent and with 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. Tradescantla longifolia Small. Stems, like the rest of the foliage, glandular, 

 usually solitary, erect or assurgent, 4-5 dm. tall, strict, sometimes sparingly branched 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 lower ones surpassing or almost equalling 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 

 irregular 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 mm. long, obtuse, two strongly hooded and with 

 a tuft of hairs near the apex, one scarcely hooded and nearly glabrous at the apex : corolla 

 blue, about 2 cm. broad : capsules oblong, 5-6 mm. long, glabrous : 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, keeled beneath, often slightly reflexed, somewhat scabrous on the margins ; 

 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 flumin6nsis 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, acuminate, 

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

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

 apparently lanceolate from the involute edges, 5-6 mm. long, pilose or villous, obtuse, 

 hooded, often minutely glandular : corolla blue, 2-2.5 cm. broad : petals suborbicular 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 tuberculate 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, ciliate, 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 involute 

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

 2.5-3 cm. broad : petals ovate-orbicular, obtuse : capsules globose-oblong, 5 mm. long, con- 

 stricted 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. 



