SPIDERWORT FAMILY 27 



or split. Flowers in terminal cymes or umbels, bisexual, often 

 zygomorphic. Sepals 3, persistent, foliaceous or colored. Petals 

 3, soon falling or liquefying. Stamens 6 or fewer, often some 

 of them abortive. Ovary 2-3-celled; style single; stigma 

 entire or 3-lobed. Fruit a 2-3-celled, 2-3-valved capsule; seeds 

 solitary or several in each cell.* 



I. TRADESCANTIA L. 



Perennial, stem simple or branched. Leaves very narrow. 

 Flowers in terminal and axillary bracted umbels, actinomor- 

 phic, 1 in. broad. Sepals 3, herbaceous. Petals 3, soon fall- 

 ing, or liquefying to jelly. Stamens 6, sometimes 3 shorter 

 than the others ; filaments bearded or smooth. Ovary 3-celled, 

 with 2 ovules in each cell ; pedicels recurved in fruit. Capsule 

 3-celled, 3-valved, 3-6-seeded.* 



1. T. virginiana L. SPIDERWORT. Stem erect, stout, smooth, or 

 with long, soft hairs, 12 ft. high. Leaves linear, keeled, often 

 purple-veined, long, taper-pointed, 1 ft. or more in length. Bracts 

 similar to the leaves. Umbels sessile, 2-many-flowered, flowers in 2 

 rows in the bud. Petals blue or purple, twice as long as the sepals. 

 Stamens blue, filaments densely bearded. Capsule ovoid or oblong. 

 On dry, sandy soil.* 



2. T. pilosa Lehm. HAIRY SPIDERWORT. Stem stout, erect or 

 zigzag, branched, with long, soft hairs, or nearly smooth, 1-2 ft. 

 high. Leaves linear-oblong, taper-pointed at the apex, narrowed at 

 the base, hairy on both sides. Umbels axillary and terminal, many- 

 flowered. Pedicels and sepals with soft, glandular hairs. Flowers 

 blue or purple, J-l in. wide. Seeds pitted. In rich soil.* 



II. COMMELINA L. 



Annual or perennial, stem branching, erect or procumbent, 

 smooth or downy. Leaves petioled or sessile, entire, the floral 

 ones heart-shaped, folded, and forming a spathe inclosing the 

 base of the cymes. Flowers not actinomorphic. Sepals mostly 

 colored, 1 of them smaller. Petals blue, unequal, 2 of them 

 kidney-shaped and long-clawed, the third one smaller. Stamens 

 6, only 3 of them fertile; filaments smooth. Capsule 1-3-celled; 

 seeds 1-2 in each cell.* 



