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Tradescantia hirsuticaulis
Also called Hairy Spiderwort
Tradescantia hirsuticaulis, the Hairystem Spiderwort, Hairy-stem Spiderwort, or Hairy-stemmed Spiderworth is a perennial herb belonging to the Commelinaceae family. Native to the Southeastern United States, the herb most commonly grows between rocks and in dry, shaded woods. The species grows close to the ground and produces purple flowers during late spring and early summer.
John Kunkel Small designated it as a species in 1897 while segregating various Tradescantia plants to solve inconsistent classifications. When in contact with humans and multiple animal species, T. hirsuticaulis can cause contact dermititis.
T. hirsuticaulis is most frequently found in the Southeastern United States. Its native range reaches as far west as Eastern Oklahoma and Texas and as far east as Georgia and the North Carolina Piedmont region. The species is most commonly found in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The Tennessee populations are generally located throughout the state's Giles, Hickman, and Lawrence counties. Two separate individuals are known to have grown outside the plant's normal range in Pennsylvania and Bolivia. The method by which these plants ended up in those locations is unknown.
Occasionally, the plant is used as an ornamental decoration. It can be specifically employed along walkways and rock gardens serving as a groundcover. Groundcovers assist with preventing erosion while simultaneously preventing weeds from growing. This specific usage for the plant uncommon. Other spiderworts are occasionally used by Native American tribes for medicine and food. Members of those tribes occasionally eat Tradescantia virginiana leaves in salad, while some historically believed that mixing its roots and various plant parts could heal cancer or kidney issues. Whether Native American groups used T. hirsuticaulis for such purposes in unknown.
Longbract spiderwort · Buckley's spiderwort · Waxy Spiderwort · Succulent spiderwort · Ernest's spiderwort · Small-leaf spiderwort · Giant spiderwort · Hairyflower spiderwort · Texas spiderwort · Wild crocus · Wandering Jew · Prairie spiderwort
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tradescantia hirsuticaulis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
