Mexican three-masted flower
| Mexican three-masted flower | ||||||||||||
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Mexican three-masted flower ( Tradescantia pallida ) |
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| Tradescantia pallida | ||||||||||||
| ( Rose ) DRHunt |
The Mexican three-masted flower ( Tradescantia pallida ) is a species of the commelina family (Commelinaceae). It is native to Mexico and is considered an invasive plant in Florida and Louisiana .
description
Appearance and leaf
Tradescantia pallida is a perennial herbaceous plant that has a stature height of up to 40 cm and an irregular shape. The stem is tinted purple-violet.
The alternate and spirally arranged leaves are sessile. The somewhat fleshy leaf blade is usually 7 to 15 cm long and 1.5 to 3 cm wide and lanceolate-oblong to oblong-elliptical in shape with a symmetrical, rounded to wedge-shaped base and pointed end. The bare leaf surfaces are reddish to purple in color, sometimes also greenish. The leaf margin is ciliate.
Inflorescence and flower
Tradescantia pallida forms terminal inflorescences throughout the growing season, which are often overgrown. On (3.5 to) mostly 4 to 13 cm long inflorescence shafts stand over foliage-like bracts on only 4 to 9 mm, in the upper area densely haired pedicels the flowers. The hermaphrodite flowers that wilt within a day are radial symmetry and threefold with a double flower envelope . The three free, hairy sepals in the lower area are 7 to 10 mm long. The three pink-colored, nailed petals are fused at their base and are 1.5 to 2 cm long. The six fertile stamens with sparsely hairy stamens rise above the corolla.
Fruit and seeds
3.5 mm thin-walled, bald capsule fruits are formed. The seeds are 2.5 to 3 mm in size.
Chromosome number
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 24, less often 18.
Occurrence
Tradescantia pallida is native to eastern Mexico . There it grows in dry and sunny locations. Today this species can also be found in Florida and Louisiana , especially in dilapidated settlements, but also in Central and South America, the Caribbean, South Asia and Italy as a neophyte .
Systematics
This species was in 1911 by Joseph Nelson Rose in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium , 13, p 294 under the name Setcreasea pallida first described . David Richard Hunt placed it in Kew Bulletin , 30, p. 452 in 1975 under the name Tradescantia pallida , which is valid today, in the genus Tradescantia . Further synonyms for Tradescantia pallida (Rose) DRHunt are Setcreasea purpurea Boom , Setcreasea jaumavensis Matuda , Setcreasea lanceolata Faruqi, KL Mehra & Celarian , Tradescantia purpurea Boom .
use
Tradescantia pallida is used as a soil-covering ornamental plant in frost-free gardens . It is also used as a houseplant . The most common variety is 'Purple Heart', also called 'Purpurea'.
swell
- Robert B. Faden: Commelinaceae in the Flora of North America , Volume 22, 2000: Tradescantia pallida - online. (Section description and systematics)
literature
- Rolf Blancke: Color Atlas. Plants of the Caribbean and Central America . Ulmer, Stuttgart 1999. ISBN 3-8001-3512-4 .
- Gordon Cheers (Ed.): Botanica: The ABC of Plants. 10,000 species in text and images. Könemann 2003. ISBN 978-3-8289-3099-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Tradescantia pallida at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Tradescantia - World Checklist of Selected Plant Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on August 8, 2018.
