North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Tradescantia subaspera

Tradescantia subaspera Ker Gawl.

wide-leaved spiderwort, zigzag spiderwort

Tradescantia subaspera (Wide-leaved Spiderwort)

Image ID: 18997
Image by: Ware, Richard & Teresa
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: TRSU2
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Tradescantia subaspera
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-01-10

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: TRADE
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Tradescantia
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Spiderwort
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 70 species, herbs, of the New World.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Faden in FNA (2000); Anderson & Woodson (1935)=Y; Tucker (1989)=Z; Faden in Kubitzki (1998b). [also see Callisia and Cuthbertia]

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: COMMEL
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Commelinaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: R. Brown 1810
FAMILY COMMON: Spiderwort Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 41 genera and 650 species, herbs, of tropical and warm temperate regions of both hemispheres.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Faden in FNA (2000); Faden in Kubitzki (1998b); Burns, Faden, & Steppan (2011); Tucker (1989).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Clump-forming, ascending perennial of dry to moist woodlands, forests and hammocks.
STEMS: Stems sparingly branched, somewhat zigzag, smooth or hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate; sessile with tubular, sheathing bases; narrowly lance-shaped to oval-lance-shaped; to 12 in. long; smooth or hairy; with the upper surface a darker green than the lower.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in terminal clusters with a long leaf-like bract spread beneath, blue or light purple (rarely white), about 1 in. wide, consisting of 3 petals and 6 hairy blue stamens bearing yellow anthers.
FRUITS: Fruit a nearly round, 3-celled capsule.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 1 1/2-3 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Jun-Jul

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
				x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Blue to light purple

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x						x		x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Dry forests, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
2139	1986-1945			View
9222	2007-0426	2020-05-05	0	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
3662	2139	187	Liloia	1986-12-31	View
12314	9222	66	Liloia	2007-11-27	View
13333	0	65	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: TRSU2
USDA Common Name: Zigzag Spiderwort
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Tradescantia subaspera
COMMON NAME: Wide-leaved Spiderwort, Zigzag Spiderwort
SYNONYMY: [= FNA, RAB, Tn, Va, W, WH3; > T. subaspera Ker-Gawler var. montana (Shuttleworth ex Britton) E.S. Anderson & Woodson - C, F, G, K, WV, Y, Z; > T. subaspera var. subaspera - C, F, G, K, WV, Y, Z; < T. pilosa J.G.C. Lemaire - S]
PHENOLOGY: Jun-Jul.
HABITAT: Dry to mesic woodlands and forests, hammocks.
COMMENTS: Nc. NC, w. VA, WV, OH, IN, IL, and MO, south to NC, SC, sw. GA, Panhandle FL, and AL. Two questionable varieties are sometimes recognized. Var. subaspera may be distinguished by the stem conspicuously zigzag above, except on depauperate or juvenile plants (vs. the stems straight or only slightly zigzag), uppermost lateral cymes sessile or short-pedunculate (vs. pedunculate throughout), uppermost internodes very reduced, crowding the upper leaves (vs. internodes less reduced), leaves much broader than the sheath (vs. only slightly broader), and its generally greater size than var. montana. T. subaspera var. montana ranges from sw. VA and c. WV south to nw. SC, n. GA, and se. TN, with disjunct occurrences in c. AL and Panhandle FL. Var. subaspera ranges from WV west to n. IL, south to se. TN, ne. AR, and s. MO, with disjunct occurrences in NC.
RANGE MAP: Tradescantia subaspera.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Commelinaceae R. Brown 1810 (Spiderwort Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 41 genera and 650 species, herbs, of tropical and warm temperate regions of both hemispheres.
REFERENCE: Faden in FNA (2000); Faden in Kubitzki (1998b); Burns, Faden, & Steppan (2011); Tucker (1989).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Tradescantia L. (Spiderwort)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 70 species, herbs, of the New World.
REFERENCE: Faden in FNA (2000); Anderson & Woodson (1935)=Y; Tucker (1989)=Z; Faden in Kubitzki (1998b). [also see Callisia and Cuthbertia]

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Tradescantia subaspera in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Tradescantia subaspera in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Tradescantia subaspera in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Tradescantia subaspera in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Tradescantia subaspera in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Tradescantia subaspera

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 18997 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 25763 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 18997 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)