Tradescantia ohiensis

Native

Dry, moderate, or moist. Prairies, meadows, thickets, roadsides. Full to partial sun.

April to July

Deep blue to purple

16″ to 40″

This is a 16″ to 40″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on 1 to many stems from thick, fleshy, fibrous roots.

The stems are erect or ascending, often branched, usually hairless, bluish-green, and covered with a whitish, waxy or powdery film (glaucous). There are 3 to 8 nodes on the stem and up to 9″ between nodes.

The leaves are alternate, linear, 4″ to 14″ long, and ¼″ to ¾″ wide but usually less than ⅜″ wide. They are flat, not rolled or keeled, firm, usually hairless, grayish-green or bluish-green, and glaucous. They form an angle of less than 90° with the stem and curve into an arch like a bow. The upper leaves are as narrow or narrower than the part of the leaf that surrounds the stem when it is opened and flattened. The base of the leaf surrounds the stem. The tip tapers to a point with concave sides along the tip. The margins are untoothed.

The inflorescence is a tight, umbrella-like cluster of many flowers arising from the same point. They appear at the end of the stem, at the ends of branches, and often on long stalks rising from the leaf axils. A pair of bracts below the inflorescence are similar to the leaves and about the same size, 1″ to 8″ long.

The flowers are 1″ to 1½″ wide. They are on ¼″ to 1⅛″ long, hairless stalks which droop when in bud, becoming erect when the flower opens. The sepals are glaucous and hairless, but may have a tuft of hairs at the tip. The 3 petals are deep blue to purple and broadly egg-shaped. There are 6 stamens with bright yellow anthers. The petals last only one day, opening in the morning then turning to jelly in the mid-day heat. The central flowers bloom first. There is no floral scent.

The fruit is a papery, round capsule ¼″ or less in diameter with 3 to 6 seeds.

Bracted spiderwort (Tradescantia bracteata) is a smaller plant, 16″ to 24″ tall at maturity. The stems are usually unbranched and bright green. The leaves are bright green and keeled, not flat. Neither the stems nor the leaves are glaucous. The bracts are 2″ to 12″ long, often longer and wider than the leaves. The sepals and flower stalks are densely hairy with both long and short hairs.

Prairie spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis var. occidentalis) is a smaller plant, 8″ to 24″ tall at maturity. The leaves are bright green and rolled inward toward the upper side, not flat. The sepals and flower stalks are sparsely hairy with minute, glandular hairs. However, hairiness of sepals and flower stalks is an unreliable indicator in the field, as they may not be obvious and may be overlooked.

Southeast corner