FAMILY | COMMELINACEAE

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Gardening | Plant ID

the dayflowers and spiderworts

Commelina                                         

Dayflower, (Commelina) The Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus named the genus after the Dutch, Commelijn family of botanists.

Dayflower
Beavers Bend, Oklahoma

Tradescantia                                    

Spiderwort (Tradescantia), are herbaceous perennials. Often, considered a weed, spiderwort is cultivated for borders and used in containers. Quite often it is used for a foliage accent  or ground cover. The leaves are usually elongated and lance shaped and the plants trail or climb. The flowers can be white, pink, or purple, but are most commonly bright blue.

Cobweb Spiderwort

Observing the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association WaterWise Exhibit at The Dallas Arboretum I found a spiderwort, (Tradescantia sillamontana), that I have never grown. The exhibit is a demonstration garden, well labeled, with low water requiring plants. The cobweb spiderwort appears to have a trailing growth habit and a silver/white appearance. It has a pink flower. It is a water-wise plant. I have not grown it myself but I would like to try it if it is available in the nurseries.

Lady in a Boat

Tradescantia pallida is a species of spiderwort more commonly known as wandering jew, a name it shares with the closely related species,  Tradescantia fluminensis and Tradescantia zebrina. 

Other common names include lady-in-a-boat (because the sweet pink flower sits in the leaf-shaped boat), purple secretia, purple heart, and purple queen. It is native to the Gulf Coast region of eastern Mexico.

Edward Palmer was the first European to observe and assign a Latin name to the type specimen near Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas in 1907. He honored the father and son team of botanists, John Tradescant, the elder (c 1570-1638) and John Tradescant, the younger.  The Tradescants were botanists to Charles I (1600 – 1649).

Chart 1: Commelinaceae endemic to Texas and surrounding areas

Tinantia anomala	False dayflower, Widows tears
Tradescantia edwardsiana	Plateau spiderwort, Edward's spiderwort
Tradescantia gigantea	Giant spiderwort
Tradescantia humilis	Texas spiderwort
Tradescantia subacaulis	Stemless spiderwort

Hyden Photography

for

Grassroots Horticulture

2021

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FAMILY | BROMELIACEAE

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Bromeliaceae (bro-mee-lee-AY-see-ee)
Etiology: The Bromelia family, is named for 17th century Swedish botanist, Olaf Bromel.

The Bromeliads are a family including pineapple and Spanish moss. The Bromeliads are native mainly to the tropical Americas.

The foliage, which usually grows in a rosette, is colored in a range of shades including maroon, various shades of green, and gold.

Bromeliads have many fascinating adaptations to control water loss and heat adjustment within its metabolism. Scales or hairs, called tricomes, allow bromeliads to capture water in cloud forests and help to reflect sunlight in deserts

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Many bromeliads, including pineapple, are believed to originate from the mountainous regions of Brazil.

    

References.                                                      

Bromeliad Society International

Hyden Photography 

for
Grassroots Horticulture

2021

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Family | Cannaceae

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Canna or canna lily is the only genus of flowering plants in the family Cannaceae, consisting of 10 species. Cannas are not true lilies, but have been assigned to the order Zingiberales in the monocot clade Commelinids, together with their closest relatives, the gingers, spiral gingers, bananas, arrowroots, heliconias, and birds of paradise.

Canna leaf

Cannas are one of the most popular garden plants internationally. They are tropical or subtropical so they will survive being placed in a boggy area. A close cousin, ginger, is edible as is the canna. With proper preparation they produce a starch suitable for noodle preparation. Throughout the world the seeds are used for dyes, musical instrument, and jewelry, Leaves are utilized to make paper, rope and fermented to make alcohol. 

Cannas can be found with red, orange, and yellow flowers and green or maroon leaves

Dallas Arboretum, fall 2019                                                       photograph by Catherine Hyden

Canna

Dallas Arboretum, fall 2019                                                       photograph by Catherine Hyden

Cannaa

Dallas Arboretum, fall 2019                                                       photograph by Catherine Hyden

Canna

I have several varieties of canna. One is Picasso and it is a dwarf variety. I like the colorization on this flower. It does look as though paint was splattered.

Watercolor effect

All material © 2022 by Jeanette Hyden

for 

 ~ Grassroots Horticulture ~

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Family | Asphodelaceae

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GARDENING | PLANT ID

THE Asphodelaceae FAMILY

Aloe                                                      

Aloe is a great hiding place for this Anole.

Succulent plants, such as this aloe, store water in their enlarged 
fleshy leaves, stems, or roots. This allows them to survive in arid environments.

The aloe that I grow in pots thrives in the heat of the summer (zone 7b),
 but I bring it in during the winter. 
It does not tolerate temperatures below freezing.

Botanical Prints                                                                                          

Regnault, Nicolas François (1746-ca. 1810) (Author),
 L,Aloé Common., 1774, Paris.

From The New York Public Library

From The New York Public Library

Kniphofia                                            

Hemerocallis  daylilies                 

Dianella  flax lily          ___________

Asphodelaceae

Asphodeloideae     Asphodelus     Asphodeline             Eremurus     Trachyandra         Kniphofia     Bulbinella             Bulbine     Jodrellia         Haworthia     Aloe             Xanthorrhoeoideae   Xanthorrhoea     Hemerocallidoideae     Simethis     Hemerocallis         Tricoryne       Corynotheca       Caesia       Arnocrinum       Hensmania       Stawellia     Johnsonia                   Eccremis     Pasithea         Phormium         Geitonoplesium     Agrostocrinum           Stypandra     Rhuacophila         Dianella       Thelionema     Herpolirion

Deborah Lee Baldwin

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for 

Grassroots Horticulture

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