Tradescantia virginiana

Tradescantia virginiana
Open flower with a Toxomerus sp. hoverfly feeding
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Clade:	Commelinids
Order:	Commelinales
Family:	Commelinaceae
Genus:	Tradescantia
Species:	T. virginiana
Binomial name
Tradescantia virginiana L.

Tradescantia virginiana, the Virginia spiderwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Commelinaceae. It is the type species of Tradescantia, native to the eastern United States. It is commonly found growing wild along roadsides and railway lines. Most garden plants labelled as T. virginiana actually belong to the Andersoniana cultivar group, which are hybrids involving multiple species.

This perennial herbaceous plant has alternate, simple leaves on tubular stems. The flowers are borne in summer, in shades of blue, purple, magenta or white.

In cultivation it likes most moist soils but can adapt to drier garden soils. Plants may be propagated from seed but they are more easily started from cuttings or divisions.

T. virginiana is found in eastern North America, west to Missouri, south to northern South Carolina and Alabama, and north to Ontario, Vermont, and Michigan. Much of the northern range, however, may represent garden escapes rather than indigenous wild populations.

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