Genus 3. 



SPIDERWORT FAMILY. 



3. Tradescantia occidentalis (Britton) Smyth. 

 Western Spiderwort. Fig. 1156. 



T. virginiana occidentalis Britton ; Britt. & Brown, 111. Fl. 

 377. 1896. 



T. occidentalis Smyth, Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci. 16 : 163. 1899. 



Mostly glabrous to the inflorescence, bright green. 

 Stems solitary, erect, i°-2i° tall, simple; leaves linear, 

 8-12' long, involutely folded, curved; sheaths S'720" 

 long, conspicuously ribbed, rarely with a few cilia; 

 bracts of the involucre 2, linear, slightly unequal; pedi- 

 cels rather slender, 5"-io" long; sepals oblong or ellip- 

 tic, apparently lanceolate by the involute edges, 4"-s" 

 long, glandular-pilose; petals blue or reddish, almost 5" 

 long, orbicular-ovate; capsules obovoid or oblong, al"- 

 3" long, puberulent at the apex; seeds li" long, pitted 

 and ridged. 



On sand-hills, Iowa to Texas, South Dakota and Colorado. 

 June-Aug, 



4. Tradescantia virginiana L. Spider- 

 wort. Trinity. Fig. 1157. 



Tradescantia virginiana L. Sp. PI. 288. 1753. 



Glabrous or slightly pubescent, succulent, glau- 

 cous or green, stems stout, 8'-3° tall. Leaves 

 more or less channeled, or in some forms nearly 

 flat, linear or linear-lanceolate, long-acuminate, 

 often more than 1° long, 4"-i' wide; bracts folia- 

 ceous, commonly rather wider and shorter' than 

 the leaves ; umbels solitary and terminal or rarely 

 2-4, loosely several-many-flowered; pedicels gla- 

 brous or pubescent, slender; flowers blue or pur- 

 plish, rarely white, i'-a' broad, very showy; sepals 

 oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, gla- 

 brous or pubescent, 4"-io" long, much longer 

 than the capsule. 



In rich soil, mostly in woods and thickets, south- 

 ern New York to Ohio and South Dakota, south to 

 Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas. Escaped from 

 cultivation farther north. Ascends to 4000 ft. in 

 Virginia. Spider-lily. May-Aug. 



5. Tradescantia reflexa Raf. Reflexed 

 Spiderwort. Fig. 1158. 



Tradescantia reflexa Raf. Atl. Journ. 150. 1832. 



Perennial, glabrous, glaucous. Stems erect, 

 l°-3° tall, nearly straight, commonly much 

 branched; leaves linear, 8'-2o' long, straight, 

 or somewhat curved, long-attenuate; sheaths 

 large, 5"-is" long; involucres of 2 unequal 

 finally reflexed leaf-like bracts; umbel-like 

 cymes usually dense at maturity ; pedicels 

 slender, io"-i3" long, recurved; sepals ob- 

 long or elliptic, apparently lanceolate by the 

 involute edges, 4 '-5" long, hooded, mostly 

 with a tuft of hairs at the apex; corolla blue 

 or red, io"-is" broad, the petals suborbicular ; 

 capsule ovoid to oblong, 2V-3" long, glabrous. 



In sandy or clayey soil, Ohio to Minnesota, 

 Florida and Texas. Spring and summer. 



