TRADESCANTIA 



TRAGOPOGON 



1827 



last is hardy in the open ground in central New York. 

 All of them are used for baskets and vases. The two 

 first are best known and are the plants commonly known 

 as Wandering Jew. All of them may have striped 

 foliage. See Commelina and Zebrina. 



aa. Plant erect, or ascending from a decumbent base. 



B. Species grown primarily for the colored foliage: 

 greenhouse kinds. 



c. Stem none, or scarcely rising above the ground. 



fuscata, Lodd. (properly Pyrrheima Ldddigesii, 

 Hassk.). Stemless, brown-tomentose or hairy: lvs. ob- 

 long-ovate, entire, about 7-nerved, short-petioled: fls. 

 blue or blue-purple, 1 in. or more across, borne in the 

 midst of the lvs. on very short pedicels, stamens 6. 

 S. Amer. L.B.C. 4:374. B.R. 6:482. B.M. 2330. -Lvs. 

 6-8 in. long. Now referred to Pyrrheima, being the 

 only species. 



cc. Stem evident, usually branching. 

 D. Lvs. distichous {in 2 rows). 

 Reginse, Lind. & Rod. Stiff -growing upright plant: 

 lvs. lanceolate-acuminate, sessile, set closely on opposite 

 sides of the stem and spreading nearly horizontally, 

 about 6 in. long, the center purplish crimson, with 

 feathered border, the space towards the margins silvery, 

 the very edge of the leaf darker, the under side purple. 

 Peru. I.H. 39:147; 40:173 (3); 41, p. 14. G.C. III. 11:699; 

 13:477. R. B. 19:113. -Introd. into Belgium from Peru 

 in 1870. Named for the Queen of the Belgians. Perhaps 

 a Dichorisandra. 



dd. Lvs. not S-ranked. 

 E. Stamens all equal and similar. 

 Warscewicziana, Kunth & Bouche (Dichorisandra 

 Warscewicziana, Planch.). Fig. 2542. Dichorisandra- 

 like, having a stout caudex or trunk, marked by leaf- 

 scars and finally branching: lvs. green, stiffish, 1 ft. or 

 less long, clustered at the top of the stem, recurving, 

 lanceolate-acuminate: fls. lilac-purple, numerous in 

 small crowded clusters along the branches of a panicle- 

 like cluster. Guatemala. B.M. 5188. R.H. 1860, p. 136. 



2541. Wandering Jew— Tradescantia iluminensis. 

 Natural size. 



ee. Stamens unequal, — S long and 3 short. 



elongata, Meyer. Nearly glabrous, procumbent and 

 rooting at the base, then suberect to the height of 1-2 

 ft.: lvs. lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 

 sessile, light glaucous-green above and striped with 

 silver, reddish purple beneath: peduncles 1-5, terminal: 

 fls. rose-colored, the sepals green. Tropical Amer. 



2542. Tradescantia 

 Warscewicziana . 



BB. Species grown as border plants for their flowers: 



native kinds. 



c. Umbels sessile. 



Virginiana, Linn. Common Spiderwort. Erect, 

 branching, 1-3 ft., glabrous or nearly so: lvs. eondupli- 

 cate, very long linear-lanceolate 

 (6-15 in. long), clasping: um- 

 bels several-fld., terminal, the 

 pedicel recurving when not in 

 bloom: fls. violet-blue, in vari- 

 ous shades, 1-2 in. across, pro- 

 duced freely nearly all summer. 

 N. Y. to S. Dakota, Va. and Ark. 

 B.M. 105; 3546 (as T. carici- 

 folia). L.B.C. 16: 1513 (as T. 

 elata).— An exceedingly varia- 

 ble plant. Var. occidental, 

 Britt., is in the trade. It has 

 much narrower lvs. and smaller 

 fls. and is usually dwarf. There 

 are several horticultural forms. 

 Var. alba has white fls. B.M. 

 3501. Var. atrosangulnea has 

 dark red fls. Var. coccinea has 

 bright red fls. Var. caerulea 

 has bright blue fls. Some of the 

 forms would better be regarded 

 as species. See Rose, Contr. 

 Nat. Herb. 5:204. 



brevicaulis, Raf. Villous, 1 ft. 

 or less high, sometimes nearly 

 acaulescent: lvs. mostly from 

 near the ground, linear-lanceo- 

 late, more or less ciliate: fls. 

 about 1 in. across, blue or rose- 

 purple. Ky. to Mo. 



cc. Umbels peduncled. 



rosea, Vent. Slender and nearly or quite simple, 

 glabrous, 12 in. or less tall: lvs. very narrow-linear: 

 bracts short and scale-like: fls. %-% in. across, rose- 

 colored. Md. to Mo. and south. Mn. 2, p. 36. 



T. crassifblia, Cav. Something like T. Virginiana, but lvs. 

 short and broad (oblong-ovate, ciliate, as also the stem: fls. 

 1J-2 in. across, blue-purple, in terminal and axillary sessile. 

 umbels, the stamens all equal. Mex. B.M. 1598. — T. Crdssula, 

 Link & Otto. Somewhat succulent, ascending: lvs. thick, ob- 

 long and nearly or quite obtuse, glabrous except on the edges: 

 fls. about \i~Vi in. across, white, in terminal and lateral often 

 stalked umbels, the calyx and pi-dicels hairy. Brazil. B.M. 

 2935. L.B.C. 16:1560.— T. decora. Bull. Foliage plant: lvs. 

 long-lanceolate, dark olive-green with a central gray band. 

 Brazil.— T. discolor is Rhceo discolor, which see (p. 1526).— T. 

 draccencefblia. "A noble and rapid-growing plant, with luxuri- 

 ant and handsome foliage. The leaves in many respects resem- 

 ble a dracama and are a deep green, marked with chocolate 

 or black. . . When fully grown the plant will send out long 

 runners, bearing out tufts of leaves at the end." John Lewis 

 Cbilds, Catalogue 1900.— r. m ulticolor, Hort. See Zebrina.— T. 

 navicularis, Ort. Much like T. Virginiana: stoloniferous: 

 stem much branched: lvs. ovate-acute, sessile, boat-shaped: 

 umbel terminal, many-fid., with 2 foliaceous bracts: fls. rose- 

 colored, the stamens all equal. Peru. Mentioned in European 

 literature as a warmhouse subject.- T. quadricolor, Hort. See 

 Zebrina. — T. superba, Lind. & Rod. Lvs. oval-oblong-acuminate, 

 sessile, purple beneath, dark metallic green with a white band 

 on either side of midrib. Peru. I.H. 39:155: 40:173 (6). Gt. 

 46, p. 163. Perhaps not a Tradescantia.— T. zebrina, Hort., is 

 Zebrina pendula. j Ji H\ g t 



TRAGOPOGON (Greek for goat's beard). Compdsitas. 

 Goat's Beard. Between 30 and 40 species of erect bi- 

 ennial or perennial herbs with narrow grass-like leaves 

 and heads of yellow or purple flowers, belonging to the 

 ligulate section of the composite family (tribe Cichori- 

 acece). Florets perfect, with slender style-branches and 

 sagittate anthers; pappus composed of bristles in a 

 single series and mostly raised on a beak; involucre 

 cylindric or nearly so, with approximately equal bracts 

 in a single row. The Tragopogons are mostly weedy 

 plants with a tap-root. They are native to outhern 

 Europe, northern Africa and central and southern 

 Asia. One of them is cultivated for its edible tap-root 

 (salsify) and another is now a frequent weed in this- 

 country. The flowers of these open only in the morn- 

 ing. 



