Tradescantia spathacea

Swartz

Prodr. 57. 1788.

Common names: Moses-in-the-cradle oyster-plant boat-lily
WeedyIntroduced
Synonyms: Rhoeo discolor (L'Héritier) Hance ex Walpers Rhoeo spathacea (Swartz) Stearn
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 22.

Herbs, erect or ascending, rarely rooting at nodes. Stems unbranched, short. Leaves spirally arranged; blade usually abaxially purple, adaxially green, strap-shaped, to 35 × 5 cm (distal leaf-blades wider or narrower than sheaths when sheaths opened, flattened), leathery, succulent, glabrous. Inflorescences axillary, sessile, or pedunculate in axils well below shoot apex, cymes enclosed in pairs of boatshaped spathes. Flowers distinctly pedicillate; pedicels glabrous; sepals distinct, white, 3–6 mm, glabrous; petals distinct, white, ovate, not clawed; stamens free; filaments bearded. Capsules 3-locular or (by abortion) 2-locular, 3–4 mm. Seeds 1 per locule, 3–4 mm. 2n = 12 (Belize).


Phenology: Flowering winter (Jan).
Habitat: Occasionally escaped to hammocks and weedy places

Distribution

V22 587-distribution-map.jpg

Introduced; Fla., Mexico, West Indies, Central America

Discussion

Tradescantia spathacea is native to southern Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Tradescantia spathacea"
Robert B. Faden +
Swartz +
petiolate +  and sessile +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (35 cm350 mm <br />0.35 m <br />) +
strap--shaped +
succulent +  and leathery +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
Moses-in-the-cradle +, oyster-plant +  and boat-lily +
umbel-like +
Fla. +, Mexico +, West Indies +  and Central America +
Occasionally escaped to hammocks and weedy places +
pedunculate +  and sessile +
cauline +  and basal +
differentiated +
distinct +
not clawed +  and ovate +
unequal +
Flowering winter (Jan). +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
distinct +
subequal +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
boat-shaped +
Weedy +  and Introduced +
staminodial +
not +  and enlarged +
slender +
Rhoeo discolor +  and Rhoeo spathacea +
Tradescantia spathacea +
Tradescantia +
species +
ascending +  and erect +