Saturday, June 6, 2009

Tradescantia virginiana

Often called Spiderwort plant or even Monkey Flower, this is a charming old-fashioned native American plant. It is a hardy perennial from Maine to Alabama and grows in a thick clump. It seems to die out a bit in the heat of the summer. Considering our close proximity to TMI, having a plant that is also nicknamed the geiger counter plant because the blue stamens turn pink when exposed to unsafe levels of radiation is probably a good thing!

3 comments:

Comfrey Cottages said...

intersting about the radiation and color change. i have read where they do this color change in response to environmental pollutants also. Botanically, the plant is unusual for being a link between the sedge and daylily families. all this and a help to spider bites also?! how generous our plant world is too us! cool post, thank you! herbal hugs :)

Rosemary said...

Thank you so much for adding information to this post! We agree! Our plant world is amazing!

parTea lady said...

The little flowers of this plant (is it also known as spider lily?) are very pretty. Our GA garden gets so much sun and heat, but perhaps this plant would grow in a wooded area.