SPIDERWORT FAMILY. Commelinaceae. 



immediately below the flowers is heart-shaped, and 

 clasping, forming a hollow from which the flower-stem 

 proceeds. The flowers expand only in the morning. The 

 plant is erect, stout-stemmed, and grows 2-3 feet high. 

 It is named for the early Dutch botanist Kaspar Comme- 

 lin. Fond of damp and shady, but warm places, it dis- 

 tributes itself along river banks and streams from 

 seuthern N. J., south, and west to Mo. 

 Virginia Day This is a much commoner species in the 

 Flower northeastern section of the country, and 



Commelina it differs from the foregoing species in the 

 Virgin ica following particulars. The leaves and 



blue stem are slenderer, the stem taller, but 



June-Septem- branching and reclining, frequently tak- 

 ber ing root at the joints, and the whole plant 



is frequently slightly rough to the touch. The third 

 petal is also particularly inconspicuous and abortive. 

 The plant grows l|-3 feet high, and is found on river 

 banks or wet shaded places, from southern N. Y., south, 

 and west to Neb. and Tex. 



This species has mucilaginous, upright 

 Tradescantia stems, with light green , narrow, and linear 

 Virginica leaves. The flowers are regular with three 



Light violet- purplish ultramarine blue petals which 

 b ] ue richly relieve the golden anthers with- 



in; the latter are widely removed from the 

 prominent stigma. It is unquestionably cross-fertilized 

 by the earlier queen bumblebees Bombus pc h ns/jlra ul- 

 cus and B. separatus, who are attracted by the plentiful 

 pollen, and evidently come in contact with the exposed 

 stigma before stumbling among the yellow anthers. It 

 is also a familiar, old-fashioned garden flower, common 

 beside the farm-houses of the north. It is named for 

 John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I. of England. 

 It grows 1-1| feet high, usually in rich or moist ground, 

 from Me., south, and west to the Rocky Mts. There 

 are variable forms of this species, as well as another 

 slenderer southern species with smaller pink flowers, 

 6-12 inches high, named Tradescantia rosea. It is dis- 

 tributed from Md., south, and west to Mo. There are 

 garden varieties of Tradescantia also white and purple. 

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