684 



TR A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



TR A 



3. Tradescantia Erecta ; Upright Spiderwort. Erect : 

 leaves ovate, narrowed at the base, smooth ; peduncles ter- 

 minating, naked, bifid, racemed. Stems herbaceous, thick, 

 round, jointed, three feet high, branched; branches axillary, 

 and while tender villose ; corolla purple-violet, a little bigger 

 than the calix ; petals orbicular, with short claws. It varies 

 with violet-coloured corolla and stamina, in the same umbel. 

 Annual. Native of Mexico, flowering in July and August. 



4. Tradescantia Zanonia ; Gentian-leaved Spiderwort. 

 Erect: leaves broad-lanceolate ; peduncles lateral, solitary, 

 jointed in the middle, many-flowered ; bractes in pairs. Plant 

 herbaceous, two feet high ; stem simple, jointed, round, 

 sheathed, almost naked below, smooth, succulent; flowers 

 small, white, terminating, from six to eight, on very short 

 pedicels, which are clustered, thickened, and unequal ; they 

 gradually erect themselves as they flower, and are again 

 turned back as the flowers go off; petals a little bigger than 

 the calix. Native of the southern parts of Jamaica, in moun- 

 tain-woods ; flowering in spring months : found also in 

 Guiana. 



5. Tradescantia Discolor; Purple-leaved Spiderwort. 

 Stemless, even : bractes equitant, compressed ; leaves lance- 

 olate, coloured underneath. Root perennial, vertical, fleshy, 

 knotty ; stalks axillary, four times shorter than the leaves, 

 solitary, erect, simple, rarely divided, a little compressed, 

 smooth, whitish ; flowers numerous, between the uppermost 

 external bractes, which they scarcely rise above, separated 

 and enfolded in distinct clusters by the internal ones, pedi- 

 celled, white, short-lived, and scentless. Native of South 

 America, on the Mosquito shore, whence it was brought by 

 a ship to Jamaica. It is now very common in our stoves, 

 flowering early in the day throughout the summer. 



6. Tradescantia Malabarica; Grass-leaved Spiderwort. 

 Erect, even : peduncles solitary, very long. It flowers in 

 July and August. Native of the East Indies. 



7. Tradescantia Nervosa ; Nerve-leaved Spiderwort. Scape 

 one-flowered ; stems a hand high, diffused; flowers large. 

 Supposed to be a native of Suratte. 



8. Tradescantia Divaricata; Straddling Spiderwort. Stem 

 dichotomous ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, smooth ; sheaths vil- 

 lose ; flowers panicled ; filamenta smooth. Root per- 

 ennial ; stems rising to the height of ten feet, supporting 

 themselves on the neighbouring bushes ; branches round, 

 divaricating, broken in at bottom, jointed; joints two inches 

 and more, gradually shorter upwards, smooth below, little 

 villose above, sheathed ; petals equal, ovate, acute, longer 

 than the calix, blue. Found on the banks of rivers in Gui- 

 ana and Cayenne, also in Trinidad, flowering almost the 

 whole year. 



9. Tradescantia Geniculata; Knotted Spiderwort. Pro- 

 cumbent, hirsute ; leaves ovate, shaggy at the base and 

 sheath. Plant tender, with herbaceous, round, jointed stems, 

 creeping at bottom, otherwise nearly upright; flowers small, 

 white, in loose divaricated panicles. Native of South Ame- 

 rica and Martinico, in hedges. 



10. Tradescantia Monandra; One-stamined Spiderwort. 

 Diffused : leaves ovate, acuminate ; peduncles axillary, many- 

 flowered ; flowers one-stamined. Root annual ; radicles very 

 long, whitish ; stems herbaceous, ascending, jointed, putting 

 out fibres half a foot long, round, pellucid, smooth, spotted ; 

 flowers minute, white, in little axillary umbels. Native of 

 mountain-woods in the western parts of Hispaniola. 



11. Tradescantia Multiflora; Many-flowered Spiderwort. 

 Erect, branched ; leaves cordate, ciliate on the edge and 

 sheaths; peduncles clustered, axillary; flowers three-stamined. 

 Stem herbaceous, somewhat jointed, round, striated, smooth ; 



petals less than the calix, or equal to it, ovate, white, cadu- 

 cous. Native of Jamaica, in mountainous woods. 



12. Tradescantia Cordifolia; Heart-leaved Spiderwort. 

 Creeping, filiform: leaves cordate; peduncles terminating, 

 solitary, many-flowered. A small, herbaceous, annual plant; 

 radicles numerous, whitish ; stem tender, sheathed, jointed 

 at the base, round, succulent; branchlets short, coming out 

 below the sheaths of the leaves, depressed, ascending, rooting ; 

 flowers minute, white, transient. Native of Jamaica, in moist 

 shady grassy parts of high mountains, flowering in autumn. 



13. Tradescantia Procumbens; Trailing Spiderwort. Stem 

 procumbent, rooting; leaves ovate, ciiiate at the base, sheath- 

 ing; peduncles cymed, axillary; stamina unequal. Peren- 

 nial. Native of the Caraccas. 



14. Tradescantia Axillaris; Axillary Spiderwort. Stem 

 branched ; flowers sessile, lateral ; corolla one-petalled, fun- 

 nel-form, of a deep blue-purple ; tube twice as long as the 

 calix; segments three, shorter, blue ; filamenta with jointed 

 hairs. Annual. Native of the East Indies, where cattle are 

 very fond of it. 



15. Tradescantia Formosa; Handsome Spiderwort. Leaves 

 opposite, connate ; stem a foot high, even, woolly under the 

 joints ; flowers in several remote whorls ; petals six, outer 

 three, lanceolate, more rigid. Native of the Cape. 



16. Tradescantia Cristata ; Crested Spiderwort. Creeping, 

 even : spathes two-leaved, imbricate. Root annual ; stems 

 round, even, branched, diffused, creeping ; petals ovate, sessile, 

 blue. It flowers from July to September. Native of Ceylon. 



17. Tradescantia Papilionacea; Papilionaceous Spiderwort. 

 Creeping, even ; spathes three-leaved, imbricate. Root an- 

 nual, fibrous ; stems three inches long, jointed, rooted at the 

 joints; corolla violet-coloured. Native of the East Indies. 



18. Tradescantia Tuberosa; Tuberous-rooted Spiderwort. 

 Root tuberous ; joints of the stem radical ; bractes in two 

 rows, falcate, ciliate ; leaves on the stem linear-lanceolate, 

 sheathing, striated, under side tinged with purple, downy ; 

 flowers one in the axil of each bracte, small, blue-purple. 

 Native of moist valleys on the coast of Coromandel. 



19. Tradescantia Paniculata; Panicled Spiderwort. Stems 

 creeping; panicle terminating, many-flowered. Root fibrous, 

 annual ; flowers small, blue ; corolla three-parted, the two 

 upper divisions large and ovate, the third lanceolate. Native 

 of the coast of Coromandel. 



20. Tradescantia Rosea ; Rosy-flowered Spiderwort. Plant 

 erect; leaves linear-gramineous, very long; peduncles elon- 

 gate, umbelled, with few flowers ; flowers rose-coloured, 

 small, but very handsome ; calices glabrous. Grows in the 

 wet sandy fields of Carolina and Georgia. 



Tragia ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Triandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers. Calix : perianth 

 three-parted; segments ovate, acute, flat spreading. Corolla: 

 none. Stamina: filamenta three, length of the calix ; antherse 

 roundish. Females, on the same plant. Calix : perianth five 

 or six parted ; leaflets ovate, concave, acute, permanent. 

 Corolla: none. Pistil: germen roundish, three-grooved; 

 style single, erect, longer than the calix ; stigma trifid, 

 spreading. Pericarp: capsule tricoecous, roundish, three- 

 celled, hispid, each cell marked on the outside at the base 

 with two dots. Seeds: solitary, globular. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Male. Calix: three-parted. Corolla: none. 

 Female. Calix: five-parted. Corolla: none. Stigma: tri- 

 fid. Capsule: tricoecous, three-celled. Seeds: solitary. 

 The species are, 



1. Tragia Volubilis; Twining Tragia. Leaves cordate, 

 ovate, acuminate; stem twining. The stem is round, hairy, 

 leafy, branched, twining from east to west ; branches filiform, 



