Tradescantia virginiana

Tradescantia virginiana, the Virginia spiderwort,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Commelinaceae. It is the type species of Tradescantia native to the eastern United States. It is commonly grown in many gardens and also found growing wild along roadsides and railway lines.

Tradescantia virginiana
Open flower with a Toxomerus hoverfly feeding
Open flower with a Toxomerus sp. hoverfly feeding
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Commelinales
Family: Commelinaceae
Genus: Tradescantia
Species:
T. virginiana
Binomial name
Tradescantia virginiana

Description

Tradescantia virginiana is a perennial herbaceous plant with alternate, simple leaves, on tubular stems. The flowers are blue, purple, magenta, or white, borne in summer.

Cultivation

Tradescantia virginiana likes most moist soils but can adapt to drier garden soils. Plants may be propagated from seed but they are more easily started from cuttings or divisions.

Range

Tradescantia virginiana is found in eastern North America, west to Missouri, south to northern South Carolina and Alabama, and north to Ontario, Vermont, and Michigan. Much of the northern range, however, may represent garden escapes rather than indigenous wild populations.[2]

Plant
Flower

References
  1. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Tradescantia virginiana". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  2. "9. Tradescantia virginiana Linnaeus". Flora of North America.


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