Tradescantia

Scientific name

Tradescantia L.

Common names

wandering Jew, spiderwort, spider lily, inchplant

Family

Commelinaceae

Similar genera

Commelina, Floscopa, Murdannia

Native distribution

tropical and temperatetemperate:
(adj) of the climatic zone between boreal and tropical
Americas

Species cultivated

(nine species plus cultivated hybrids and varieties)

Tradescantia ernestiana E.S.Anderson & Woodson

T. fluminensis Vell.

T. hirsuticaulis Small

T. occidentalis (Britton) Smyth

T. ohiensis Raf.

T. pallida (Rose) D.R.Hunt

T. subaspera Ker Gawl.

T. virginiana L.

T. zebrina Bosse

Adventive distribution

Tradescantia fluminensis is introduced into Europe, Africa, temperatetemperate:
(adj) of the climatic zone between boreal and tropical
Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Galapagos and the United States.

T. pallida is introduced into the West Indies, Canary Islands, Madeira, Spain, southeastern United States and parts of South America.

T. virginiana is introduced into Europe.

T. zebrina is introduced into the United States, Australia, various Pacific Islands, Spain, the Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Tanzania, and east and southeast Asia.

Weed status

Tradescantia fluminensis and T. pallida can be weedy

Habit

creeping terrestrialterrestrial:
(adj) growing on land as opposed to living in water
to amphibiousamphibious:
(adj) of a plant able to live on land or in water
herb

Brief description

Roots fleshy, thin or sometimes tuberous. Stem creeping to ascending, unbranched or sparsely branched, ± succulent, glabrousglabrous:
(adj) without hairs or scales
to pilose. Leaves variable, spirally arranged or distichousdistichous:
(adj) (of leaves or flowers) distinctly arranged in two ranks along an axis; leaves may be opposite or alternate
; sessilesessile:
(adj) attached directly, without a stalk
or rarely petiolatepetiolate:
(adj) relating to or in the form of a petiole; bearing petioles
; leaf bladeblade:
(n) (syn. lamina) the flat, expanded part of a leaf, frond, or petal (excluding, e.g., the petiole)
linear or lanceolate-elliptic to ovateovate:
(adj) egg-shaped in outline; generally with the broad end at or near the base
, glaucousglaucous:
(adj) covered with a waxy whitish or bluish coating
, glabrousglabrous:
(adj) without hairs or scales
or sparsely pilose; apexapex:
(n) the point farthest from the point of attachment; the tip (often pointed)
acuminateacuminate:
(adj) tapering gradually to a point and forming more or less concave sides
or acuteacute:
(adj) tapering to a sharp, pointed apex with more or less straight sides; broader than acuminate; forming an angle of less than 90 degrees
; base rounded to cuneatecuneate:
(adj) wedge-shaped; triangular, with narrow end at the base
, gradually constricted into sheath. Inflorescenceinflorescence:
(n) the arrangement of flowers on the floral axis
of pairs of tightly coiled helicoidhelicoid:
(adj) coiled like a spiral or helix
cymes, terminalterminal:
(adj) at the apex
or arrranged in distal leaf axils; typically sessilesessile:
(adj) attached directly, without a stalk
, though axillaryaxillary:
(adj) in, of, or produced from an axil
inflorescence may be pedunculatepedunculate:
(adj) borne on or possessing a peduncle
; cymes few- to several-flowered, with 2 or 3 leaf-like, occasionally reduced bracts; bracteoles present; pedicelspedicels:
(n) the stalk of a single flower in an inflorescence, or of a grass spikelet
variably pubescentpubescent:
(adj) (1) covered with short, soft hairs; (2) bearing hairs
or glabrousglabrous:
(adj) without hairs or scales
. Flowers bisexualbisexual:
(adj) having both male and female sexual reproductive structures on one individual or in one flower
; sepals 3, free, typically ellipticelliptic:
(adj) in the form of an ellipse (oval)
, ± concave, glabrousglabrous:
(adj) without hairs or scales
, green, may be suffused with red or purple; petals 3, free, rarely with basally connateconnate:
(adj) of plant parts congenitally united into a single structure
clawsclaws:
(n) narrowed base of some petals and sepals
, ovateovate:
(adj) egg-shaped in outline; generally with the broad end at or near the base
, white to pink, blue, violet; stamens 6, filaments pilose or glabrousglabrous:
(adj) without hairs or scales
; stylestyle:
(n) in a flower, the narrow and elongated part of the pistil between the stigma and the ovary
filiformfiliform:
(adj) thread-like; long and thin
, stigmastigma:
(n) the portion of the pistil that is receptive to pollen
capitatecapitate:
(adj) terminated by an enlarged and rounded head
.

Natural habitat

damp, humid and shaded places, wet meadows, rich woods, riparianriparian:
(adj) growing by rivers or streams; of, adjacent to, or living on, the banks of a river, lake, pond, etc.
areas, alluvial terraces and ravines, along streams; some may tolerate waterlogging; often dominant herb in disturbed and urban riparianriparian:
(adj) growing by rivers or streams; of, adjacent to, or living on, the banks of a river, lake, pond, etc.
habitats

Additional comments

A genus comprising 75 species, none of which are true aquatics, just somtimes amphibiousamphibious:
(adj) of a plant able to live on land or in water
. Several species are cultivated as ornamental indoor and garden plants, as well as aquarium or terrarium plants.