Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various New World herbs of the genus Tradescantia, especially T. virginiana, having three-petaled blue or purple flowers with six hairy stamens.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A plant of the genus Tradescantia, especially T. Virginica, the common garden species. It is a native of the central and southern United States, and was early introduced into Euro. pean gardens. The petals are very delicate and ephemeral; in the wild plant they are blue, in cultivation variable in color, often reddish-violet.
- n. By extension, any plant of the order Commelinaceæ; specifically, Commelina eælestis, a blue-flowered plant from Mexico. The name is also given to Lloydia serotina. mountain-spiderwort; to Anthericum (Phalangium) Liliago, St. Bernard's lily; and to Paradisia (Czackia) Liliastrum, St. Bruno's lily—all Old World plants, the last two ornamental.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) An American endogenous plant (Tradescantia Virginica), with long linear leaves and ephemeral blue flowers. The name is sometimes extended to other species of the same genus.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any plant of the family Commelinaceae
Etymologies
- spider + wort (Wiktionary)
- Probably from its thin, hairy stamens. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The spiderwort is a flower whose juice is used for painting the silks before they're masked with starch and then dyed.”
“_Tradescantia_ -- This is otherwise known as spiderwort, Wandering Jew,”
“The spiderwort was a rich blue with its two large petals rounded, while the third one was tiny and colorless.”
“I also grow a silver-leafed version of the common green-leaf brunnera called Jack Frost, which is particularly amazing-looking when its bright blue flowers are blooming, and a variety of spiderwort (Tradescantia) called Sweet Kate, whose own blue flowers stand out against its unusual bright yellow leaves instead of the typical green ones.”
“It was peeling, and long pieces of paint hung down like the drooping leaves of a spiderwort.”
“Wetlands will reassert themselves, Muscatine vines, spiderwort and pickerel weed will overrun the golf courses, and panthers will dance again in the forests.”
“Maybe, he thought with a smile, this was some common, humble plant he tended'dandelion or catnip or spiderwort.”
“But if you've never smelled the juice of a spiderwort … well, I was very glad at the end of the week to go back to boiling dyes once again.”
“There are four families of the order, the spiderwort belonging to the highest one, _Commelyneæ_.”
Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses
“A good example is furnished by the common spiderwort (Fig. 1).”
Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘spiderwort’.
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Love Across Kingdoms
Appendix of sorts to AIC, listing plants named with reference to animals and vice versa.
duck potato, hog plum, sorrel mare, horse aloe, horse chestnut, banana slug, tiger lily, buffalo grass, tuna fruit, monkey puzzle, bull kelp, hawkweed and 133 more...
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Worts and all
I have in mind the worts associated with a green thumb rather than a green beer - but as you can see by the name, I'll accept anything you have to offer.
butterwort, spiderwort, quillwort, woundwort, nipplewort, bellwort, liverwort, milkwort, water pennywort, navelwort, toothwort, wort and 128 more...
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Spiders
tarantula, black widow, brown recluse, orb-weaver, jumping spider, wolf spider, goliath birdeater, trapdoor spider, yellow sac spider, long-legged sac s..., redback spider, redback and 42 more...
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Flora and Fauna
poa annua, pooka, vole, bestiary, popple, turgor, starling, sharpy, copse, coreopsis, clove, corvid and 348 more...
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habitat
Transforming our yard into a place for living things. The list and the yard will grow in tandem. I will add only as I plant (or discover volunteers).
serviceberry, elderberry, pagoda dogwood, american hazelnut, wild bergamot, spiderwort, rattlesnake master, crabapple, ostrich fern, echinacea, woodland phlox, river birch and 41 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for spiderwort.
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