364 BRECK’S NEW BOOK OF FLOWERS. 
TRADESCANTIA.—SPDer-wort. 
(Named in memory of John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I.] 
Tradescantia Virginica.— Spider-wort.— With its va- 
rieties are interesting border-flowers, on account of the 
continual succession of fine blue or white flowers, which 
are produced every morning, from May to September. It 
has long, grass-like foliage; flowers on stems one and one- 
half foot high, in umbel-like clusters. There is also a va- 
riety with double flowers, of a reddish-purple. None of 
them are desirable for bouquets, as the flowers close, and 
never open in water; hardy perennials; propagated by 
dividing the roots, which multiply very rapidly. 
TRILLIUM. 
[Name from triliz, triple, as it has all its parts in threes—three styles ; three 
petals; three sepals (leaves of the calyx); and three leaves on the stem.] 
Trillium pictum.—This is a very handsome species of 
this curious genus; indigenous, but rarely found. I shall 
not forget the pleasurable surprise I experienced some 
thirty years since, as I came unexpectedly upon a bed of 
it in the woods of Lancaster, Mass., the first time I had 
seen the plant. The patch in full bloom, five or six feet in 
diameter, was indeed beautiful. It was situated in a dark, 
shady part of the woods, in a rather peaty soil. This 
species is exclusively a North American plant. The flow- 
ers are two inches in diameter, pure white; the petals’ 
pencilled at the base with rich crimson-purple. The fruit 
is also very ornamental, being a large scarlet berry. 
T. séssile.—Sessile-flowered.—Is found in Pennsylvania 
and southward; it is a dark-chocolate color, the leaves 
beautifully variegated with dark and light-green. 
T. grandiflérum, is probably the handsomest of the 
species. The petals are one and one-half to two inches 
