Phil Bendle Collection:Tradescantia virginiana (Virginia spiderwort)

Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Commelinales
Family: Commelinaceae (Dayflower family)
Subfamily: Commelinoideae
Tribe: Tradescantieae
Subtribe: Tradescantiinae
Genus: Tradescantia
Section: Tradescantia
Series: Virginianae
Species: T. virginiana
Binomial name: Tradescantia virginiana
Common name: Virginia spiderwort

Tradescantia virginiana is the type species of Tradescantia (spiderwort) native to the eastern United States. Spiderwort is commonly grown in gardens. 
Tradescantia virginiana is a herbaceous plant with alternate, simple leaves, on tubular stems. The dark green or olive green leaf blades are 130–370 mm in length and are lance-shaped; widest below the middle and tapering at both ends.
During late spring to mid-summer flowers grow out of the axil (a point where a branch or leaf is attached to the main stem. The flowers can be blue, purple, or white. Each petal is 12-20 mm in length. Toward the flower’s centre, there are 6 yellow stamens and many spidery hairs. The flowers open in the morning and close at night.
The fruit is a >7mm long capsule that when it dries splits releasing 3-6 oval to oblong, brown seeds.
The plant's root system is fleshy and fibrous and can produce occasional offshoots nearby.

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Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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