Spiderwort

Tradescantia virginiana

Esteem, courage, transient beauty.

Did you know

Each spiderwort flower lasts only a single day — opening in the morning and turning to a wet jelly by afternoon.
Spiderworts are sensitive to radiation — the stamen hairs change from blue to pink in the presence of even low-level radiation, making them used as bioindicators near nuclear sites.
The plant was named after John Tradescant the Elder, gardener to King Charles I, and his son John Tradescant the Younger, who collected it in colonial Virginia.
Spiderworts get their common name from the angled, jointed leaves that resemble a squatting spider, or possibly from the silky thread-like sap of broken stems.
Wandering jew (Tradescantia zebrina) and inch plant are popular houseplant relatives in the same genus.