Plantsnap – Identify Plants, Trees, Mushrooms With An App

Purple heart (Tradescantia pallida)

Description

Tradescantia pallida is an evergreen perennial plant of scrambling stature. It is distinguished by elongated, pointed leaves - themselves glaucous green, fringed with red or purple - and bearing small, sterile three-petaled flowers of white, pink or purple. Plants are top-killed by moderate frosts, but will often sprout back from roots. Protection by mulching will increase the chances of sprouting in marginal areas. Tradescantia pallida is a species of spiderwort (a genus of New World plants) more commonly known as wandering jew or walking jew, a name it shares with the closely related species T. fluminensis and T. zebrina. Other common names include purple secretia, purple-heart, and purple queen. It is native to the Gulf Coast region of eastern Mexico. Edward Palmer collected the type specimen near Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas in 1907.

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Magnoliophyta

        • Class: Liliopsida

          • Order: Commelinales

            • Family: Commelinaceae

              • Genus: Tradescantia