Tradescantia pinetorum – Pinewoods Spiderwort

Tradescantia pinetorum - Pinewoods Spiderwort, Pine Spiderwort (flower)

Tradescantia pinetorum - Pinewoods Spiderwort, Pine Spiderwort

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Tradescantia pinetorum

Synonym: Aneilema pinetorum

Common Names: Pinewoods Spiderwort, Pine Spiderwort

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Upland, Mountain. This plant grows in mountain canyons near creeks and in oak and especially pine woodlands.

Flower Color: Blue to purple, Rose pink

Flowering Season: Summer, Early fall. This wildflower blooms after the summer monsoon rains have begun.

Height: Up to 16 inches (40 cm) tall

Description: The flowers have 3 petals of equal size, bearded stamen filaments, green to red-tinged, glandular-hairy, 4 to 6 mm long sepals, no spathe, a glandular-hairy, 0.8 to 1 cm long pedicel, and glandular-hairy flower buds. The flowers are followed by tiny seed capsules. The leaves are grasslike and alternate. The leaf sheaths wrap the stems. The leaf blades are green and linear-lanceolate in shape. The stems are slender, green to reddish, sparsely branched, erect to ascending, and covered in short, slightly rough hairs or rarely almost hairless. The plants are relatively sparse and slender.

The similar Prairie Spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis) is a fuller, more robust plant that has flowers with broader, usually longer, glandular-hairy to hairless sepals and usually a longer pedicel. Birdbill Dayflower (Commelina dianthifolia) has flowers with a boat-like spathe and hairless stamen filaments. Whitemouth Dayflower (Commelina erecta) has flowers with a boat-like spathe, hairless stamen filaments, and only 2 blue petals.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Subclass: Commelinidae
Order: Commelinales
Family: Commelinaceae – Spiderwort family
Genus: Tradescantia L. – spiderwort
Species: Tradescantia pinetorum Greene – pinewoods spiderwort

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map