i8 



A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



Fig. 53) Day-flower no. 53 



With all petals the same size ; spathe long and leaf-like 



Leaves bright green; flower stalks hairy .... Spiderwort no. 54 

 Leaves bluish-green; flower stalks not 



hairy Spiderwort no. 55 



52. Common Day-flower. Commelina communis. Stems 

 fleshy but weak. Leaves lance-shaped or oblong, sharp- 

 pointed at the tip, 23^-4^ in. long. Spathes veiny, shell- 

 shaped, the margins free, the tip acute. Flower about }^ in. 

 wide, deep blue. Summer. Mostly in door yards and along 

 roadsides. Mass. to Penn., perhaps native from Delaware to 

 Florida. Fig. 52. A related species, Commelina nudiflora, 

 differs in having spathes with a long drawn out tip, and is 

 found from New Jersey to Florida, and west to Indiana. 



53. Day-flower. Commelina virginica. Like the preceding, 

 but the edges of the spathe united at the base to form a 

 shell-like cup. Summer. Moist places from New York City 

 to Florida, west to Illinois and Texas. Fig. 53. 



54. Spiderwort. Tradescantia virginiana. 8-30 in. tall, and 

 leafy. Leaves bright green, often nearly a foot long, ^-i 

 in. wide. Spathe leaf-like, not shell-shaped, usually shorter 

 and broader than the true leaves, just beneath the flower 

 cluster. Flowers 1-2 in. wide, blue or purplish-blue, the 

 petals all the same size, and pointed. June-July. In woods. 

 New York to Virginia, and westward; rather a rare plant 

 eastward. 



55. Spiderwort. Tradescantia reflexa. Somewhat similar to 

 the preceding but with smaller flowers that are sometimes 



