Bluejacket

Tradescantia ohiensis is the most common and widespread species in the United States. It hybridizes with many of the other species.

Tradescantia ohiensis var. foliosa (Small) MacRoberts has been recognized for the forms with pilose leaves and sheaths (D. T. MacRoberts 1977). I have found such plants scattered among populations of glabrous plants, and I do not consider them worthy of formal taxonomic status.

The following hybrids are known: Tradescantia ohiensis ´ T. gigantea, in Louisiana and Texas; T. ohiensis ´ T. hirsuticaulis, Arkansas; T. ohiensis ´ T. occidentalis, Arkansas, Louisiana; T. ohiensis ´ T. ozarkana, Arkansas; T. ohiensis ´ T. paludosa, Louisiana (reported by MacRoberts, 1980); T. ohiensis ´ T. roseolens, Alabama, Florida; T. ohiensis ´ T. subaspera, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia; and T. ohiensis ´ T. virginiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Tradescantia paludosa is clearly Anderson and Woodson's weakest species, and D. T. MacRoberts (1979) may be correct in treating it as a variety of Trandescantia ohiensis. In view of its importance as a research tool, however, I prefer to maintain T. paludosa as a species until a more rigorous analysis of its variation is published. Plants of this species do not seem to require a winter dormancy, hence they can be cultivated in greenhouses year-round.

Herbs, erect or ascending, rarely rooting at nodes. Stems 15--115 cm; internodes glabrous or occasionally pilose, glaucous. Leaves spirally arranged, sessile, forming acute angle with stem, arcuate; blade linear to linear-lanceolate, 5--45 ´ 0.4--4.5 cm (distal leaf blades equal to or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), apex acuminate, glaucous, usually glabrous, sometimes pilose near sheath. Inflorescences terminal and often axillary; bracts foliaceous. Flowers distinctly pedicillate; pedicels 0.7--3 cm, glabrous; sepals glaucous, 4--15 mm, glabrous or with apical tuft of eglandular hairs; petals distinct, deep blue to rose, rarely white, broadly ovate, not clawed, 0.8--2 cm; stamens free; filaments bearded. Capsules 4--6 mm. Seeds 2--3 mm. 2n = 12, 24.

Herbs, erect, ascending, or occasionally decumbent, rarely rooting at nodes. Stems often much branched distally, 15--60 cm; internodes not at all to slightly glaucous, glabrous. Leaves spirally arranged, sessile, forming nearly right angle with stem, straight; blade narrowly oblong-elliptic to linear-lanceolate, 4--11(--20) ´ 0.4--1.2 cm (distal leaf blades equal to or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), base often constricted, apex acuminate, not at all to slightly glaucous, glabrous. Inflorescences terminal, often axillary; bracts foliaceous. Flowers distinctly pedicillate; pedicels 0.8--1.5 cm, glabrous; sepals 0.6--0.8 mm, glabrous or with apical tuft of eglandular hairs; petals distinct, pale blue, ovate, not clawed, 1.3--1.5 cm; stamens free; filaments bearded. Capsules 2--5 mm. Seeds 2--3 mm. 2n = 12.

Flowering late winter--fall (Feb (Fla.)--Sep). Roadsides, railroad rights-of-way, fields, thickets, less commonly in woods, occasionally along streams; Ont.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Flowering spring (Mar--May), sporadically to early fall. Alluvial bottoms and swamps, forests, roadsides, railroad rights-of-way, fields, ditches, and lawns; Ala., Ark., Fla., La., Miss., Tex.

Tradescantia canaliculata Rafinesque; T. foliosa Small; T. incarnata Small; T. reflexa Rafinesque

Tradescantia ohiensis Rafinesque var. paludosa (E. S. Anderson & Woodson) MacRoberts