Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

COMMON SPIDERWORT

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Tradescantia ohiensis Raf.

Morris County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-3 feet

Family: Commelinaceae - Spiderwort Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August

Also Called:

Spiderwort, ohio spiderwort, reflext spiderwort.

Stems:

Erect, slender, 1 to many, sometimes branched, glabrous, waxy, bluish-green; somewhat succulent; nodes 3-8; internodes to 9 inches.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, firm, linear-lanceolate, 4 to 14 inches long, 1/4 to 3/4 inches wide, glabrous, waxy, sheath stem at nodes, margins entire.

Inflorescences:

Cymes, umbel-like, few to many-flowered, terminal on main stem or branches; subtended by leafy bracts 1 to 8 inches long, waxy, glabrous to soft-hairy at base.

Flowers:

Stalks 1/4 to 1 inch long, glabrous; sepals 3, elliptic, 1/3 to 1/2 inch long, glabrous, waxy, tips pointed and sometimes bearing tuft of hair, margins sometimes purplish-red; petals 3, broadly egg-shaped, blue, purple, or lavender, 1 to 1.5 inch wide; stamens 6; filaments densely bearded.

Fruits:

Capsules, rounded; seeds 2-6, gray, 1/12 to 1/6 inch long.

Habitat:

Roadsides, meadows, thickets, prairies, open woods or disturbed areas; moist places, on sandy, rocky, or clayey soil.

Distribution:

Principally east 1/2 of Kansas.

Comments:

Sometimes referred to as "cow-slobbers" because of the mucilaginous slimy substance in the stem. Tradescantia is named for John Tradescant, gardener for Charles the First of England in the 17th century. Wort comes from Anglo-Saxon wyrt "herb" or "root", and spider from the belief held at one time that they would cure spider bites.

Three other spiderworts are observed in Kansas: prairie spiderwort , bracted spiderwort , and Tharps' spiderwort .

Common spiderwort inflorescence