Tradescantia virginiana

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Tradescantia virginiana
Tradescantia virginiana Plummers Island MD with Toxomerus sp2.jpg
Open flower with a Toxomerus sp. hoverfly feeding
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Commelinales
Family: Commelinaceae
Genus: Tradescantia
Species:
T. virginiana
Binomial name
Tradescantia virginiana
L.

Tradescantia virginiana, the Virginia spiderwort, [2] 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.

This perennial herbaceous plant has alternate, simple leaves on tubular stems. The flowers are borne in summer, in shades of blue, purple, magenta or white.

In cultivation it 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.

T. 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. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Tradescantia</i> Genus of plants

Tradescantia is a genus of 85 species of herbaceous perennial wildflowers in the family Commelinaceae, native to the Americas from southern Canada to northern Argentina, including the West Indies. Members of the genus are known by many common names, including inchplant, wandering jew, spiderwort, dayflower and trad.

<i>Quercus muehlenbergii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus muehlenbergii, the chinquapinoak, is a deciduous species of tree in the white oak group. The species was often called Quercus acuminata in older literature. Quercus muehlenbergii is native to eastern and central North America. It ranges from Vermont to Minnesota, south to the Florida panhandle, and west to New Mexico in the United States. In Canada it is only found in southern Ontario, and in Mexico it ranges from Coahuila south to Hidalgo.

<i>Juniperus virginiana</i> Species of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae

Juniperus virginiana, also known as eastern redcedar, red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and east of the Great Plains. Further west it is replaced by the related Juniperus scopulorum and to the southwest by Juniperus ashei. It is not to be confused with Thuja occidentalis.

<i>Quercus virginiana</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus virginiana, also known as the southern live oak, is an evergreen oak tree endemic to the Southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old South. Many very large and old specimens of live oak can be found today in the Deep South region of the United States.

<i>Pinus virginiana</i> Species of conifer

Pinus virginiana, the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, Possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, but can grow larger under optimum conditions. The trunk can be as large as 20 inches diameter. This tree prefers well-drained loam or clay, but will also grow on very poor, sandy soil, where it remains small and stunted. The typical life span is 65 to 90 years.

<i>Clematis virginiana</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Clematis virginiana is a vine of the Ranunculaceae native to North America from Newfoundland to southern Manitoba down to the Gulf of Mexico. The rationale for some of the common names is unclear, as they include examples normally applied to unrelated plants, including twining parasites. The name "Love Vine" also is applied to alleged aphrodisiacs, such as Caribbean species of Cassytha, which are unrelated to Clematis, not being in the family Ranunculaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the United States

The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the United States

The Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests are an ecoregion in the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome, in the Eastern United States. The ecoregion is located in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, including the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It covers an area of about 61,500 square miles (159,000 km2) in: northeast Alabama and Georgia, northwest South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and central West Virginia and Pennsylvania; and small extensions into Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York.

<i>Trillium cuneatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium cuneatum, the little sweet betsy, also known as whip-poor-will flower, large toadshade, purple toadshade, and bloody butcher, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a subgroup of the sessile-flowered trilliums. It is native to the southeastern United States but is especially common in a region that extends from southern Kentucky through central Tennessee to northern Alabama. In its native habitat, this perennial plant flowers from early March to late April. It is the largest of the eastern sessile-flowered trilliums.

<i>Rosa virginiana</i> Species of shrub

Rosa virginiana, commonly known as the Virginia rose, common wild rose or prairie rose, is a woody perennial in the rose family native to eastern North America, where it is the most common wild rose. It is deciduous, forming a suckering shrub up to 2 metres in height, though often less. The stems are covered in numerous hooked prickles. The leaves are pinnate, usually with between 7 and 9 glossy leaflets. The pink flowers are borne singly or in small clusters and appear over a long period in midsummer. The fruits are small, round and bright red, rich in vitamin C and edible, being both used to make jams and tea. It grows in clearings, thickets, and shores. The plant attracts birds, bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

<i>Monarda fistulosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Monarda fistulosa, the wild bergamot or bee balm, is a wildflower in the mint family Lamiaceae, widespread and abundant as a native plant in much of North America. This plant, with showy summer-blooming pink to lavender flowers, is often used as a honey plant, medicinal plant, and garden ornamental. The species is quite variable, and several subspecies or varieties have been recognized within it.

<i>Persicaria virginiana</i> Species of flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae

Persicaria virginiana, also called jumpseed, Virginia knotweed or woodland knotweed is a North American species of smartweed within the buckwheat family. It is unusual as a shade-tolerant member of a mostly sun-loving genus. Jumpseed is a perennial, named for its seeds which can "jump" several feet when a ripe seedpod is disturbed.

<i>Rosa carolina</i> Species of shrub

Rosa carolina, commonly known as the Carolina rose, pasture rose, or prairie rose, is a perennial shrub in the rose family native to eastern North America. It can be found in nearly all US states and Canadian provinces east of the Great Plains. It is common throughout its range and can be found in a wide variety of open habitats, from thickets and open woods to roadsides and along railroads.

<i>Tephrosia virginiana</i> Species of legume

Tephrosia virginiana, also known as goat-rue, goat's rue, catgut, rabbit pea, Virginia tephrosia, hoary pea, and devil's shoestring is a perennial dicot in family Fabaceae. The plant is native to central and eastern North America.

<i>Tradescantia ohiensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Tradescantia ohiensis, commonly known as bluejacket or Ohio spiderwort, is an herbaceous plant species in the genus Tradescantia native to eastern and central North America. It is the most common and widely distributed species of Tradescantia in the United States, where it can be found from Maine in the northeast, west to Minnesota, and south to Texas and Florida. It also has a very small distribution in Canada in extreme southern Ontario near Windsor.

<i>Poa secunda</i> Species of grass

Poa secunda is a widespread species of perennial bunchgrass native to North and South America. It is highly resistant to drought conditions, and provides excellent fodder; and has also been used in controlling soil erosion, and as revegetator, often after forest fires. Cultivars include 'Canbar', 'Service', 'Sherman', and 'Supernova'. Historically, indigenous Americans, such as the Gosiute of Utah, have used P. secunda for food. It was originally described botanically in 1830 by Jan Svatopluk Presl, from a holotype collected from Chile by Thaddäus Haenke in 1790.

<i>Tradescantia ozarkana</i> Species of flowering plant

Tradescantia ozarkana, the Ozark spiderwort, is a species of Tradescantia. It is part of the Commelinaceae family, native to the States of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma in the south-central United States. It flowers from April to May and can be found in rich, rocky areas, including woods and bluff ledges.

<i>Spiraea virginiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Spiraea virginiana is a rare species of flowering plant in the rose family (Rosaceae) known by the common names Virginia meadowsweet and Virginia spiraea. It is native to the southern Appalachian Mountains, where it has a distribution scattered across nine states. However, most populations are very small and poor in quality. It is threatened by disturbances in the hydrology of its habitat, introduced species of plants, and other threats. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

<i>Tradescantia longipes</i> Species of herb

Tradescantia longipes, commonly known as the wild crocus, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the dayflower family. It is found only in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas in the Midwest United States. A spring blooming species, its flowers can be observed from April to May, typically in its preferred habitat of wooded slopes on rocky hillsides. While most other members of the genus in North America have stems reaching at least a few inches above the soil, the flowering shoots of Tradescantia longipes are borne essentially at ground level. This character is shared with some individuals of Tradescantia hirsuticaulis and Tradescantia virginiana, two closely related species, although both typically have obvious stems. Regardless, Tradescantia longipes can be distinguished from the former with its longer pedicels and bracts without fine hairs, and from the latter by the presence of at least some glandular hairs on the sepals. Furthermore, Tradescantia longipes is a tetraploid, meaning it has four sets of chromosomes, while Tradescantia hirsuticaulis is diploid with only two sets. Tradescantia virginiana occurs in both diploid and tetraploid forms, although it is consistently tetraploid where its range overlaps with Trandescantia longipes.

<i>Tradescantia subaspera</i> Species of plant in the genus Tradescantia

Tradescantia subaspera, the zigzag spiderwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Commelinaceae, native to the eastern United States. Its zigzagging stems and wider leaves distinguish it from Tradescantia virginiana. It is recommended for shady naturalistic garden settings. It has three petals which are violet-blue to purple in color. Flowers bloom May to September.

References

  1. NatureServe (30 June 2023). "Tradescantia virginiana". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  2. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Tradescantia virginiana". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  3. "9. Tradescantia virginiana Linnaeus". Flora of North America .