Spiderwort: Why's it Called That Anyway?
by Jonah Holland , PR and Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
If you read this blog often then you know one of the reasons I love working at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is because I’m always learning something. Today I learned that the reason that Tradescantia virginiana aka spiderwort is called “spider” wort or spider lily is because when the stem of a spiderwort is cut, “a viscous stem secretion is released which becomes threadlike and silky upon hardening (like a spider’s web), hence the common name,” says Missouri Botanical Garden’s Plantfinder. I won’t be trying this at the Garden anytime soon. But I’ve got a friend with this plant in her back yard. I can’t wait to see if she’ll let me try it. I bet it would be a really fun thing to do with kids.
It’s really a beautiful plant. I love the bead-like pods that form after the bloom.
Tradescantia virginiana aka spiderwort: bead-like pods that form after the bloom.