Tradescantia ohiensis
Ohio Spiderwort
[ click on any image below to see larger version ]
Family:
Commelinaceae
Mid-Atlantic bloom time:
April - July
The Ohio Spiderwort's flower has three petals (usually blue or purple), with six yellow anthers,
like its close relative Virginia Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana).
Ohio Spiderwort's flower stems (pedicels) are glabrous (no small hairs on them), whereas Virginia's are slightly fuzzy.
Also, Ohio's flower buds and sepals lack hairs except for a small tuft of hairs on their end and are not inflated or turgid
(Virginia's are slightly hairy all over and are usually inflated-turgid).
Ohio's leaves are often bluish-green and are fairly thin; Virginia's tend to be truer green and slightly broader.
The genus name Tradescantia honors English naturalists John Tradescant the Elder (ca. 1570s – 1638)
and John Tradescant the Younger (1608–1662).
The leaves and stems are reported to be edible either fresh or cooked, especially tender early foliage.
The flowers are also reported to be edible and look pretty in salads.
Native American tribes like the Cherokee used spiderwort for food and medicine.
It was mashed and used on insect bites; a paste made from the roots was used to allegedly treat cancer;
and a tea was used to treat stomach-aches or as a laxative.
The Lakota made a blue paint from the flowers that they used to decorate their clothing.
Interesting factoid:
In both species, the fuzzy filament hairs in the flower change from blue to pink when exposed to low levels of nuclear radiation!
2 June 2015
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
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2 June 2015
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
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2 June 2015
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
(Note the bluish-green cast and narrow leaves)
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29 May 2018
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
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2 June 2015
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
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29 May 2018
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
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29 May 2018
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
(note the buds are hairless except for bristles at their end)
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2 June 2015
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
(note the buds are hairless except for bristles at their end)
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