Tradescantia virginiana

Tradescantia virginiana, the Virginia spiderwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Commelinaceae. It is the type species of Tradescantia, native to the eastern United States. It is commonly grown in many gardens and also found growing wild along roadsides and railway lines.

This perennial herbaceous plant has alternate, simple leaves on tubular stems. The flowers are borne in summer, in shades of blue, purple, magenta or white.

In cultivation it likes most moist soils but can adapt to drier garden soils. Plants may be propagated from seed but they are more easily started from cuttings or divisions.

T. virginiana is found in eastern North America, west to Missouri, south to northern South Carolina and Alabama, and north to Ontario, Vermont, and Michigan. Much of the northern range, however, may represent garden escapes rather than indigenous wild populations.