keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

TRADESCANTIA/COMMELINACEAE 495
& Tveten 1993). (Named for John Tradescant, 1608–1662, gardener to King Charles I of England)
REFERENCES: Bush 1904; Tharp 1932; Anderson & Woodson 1935; Anderson & Sax 1936; Anderson
& Hubricht 1938; Anderson 1954; MacRoberts 1977a, 1977b, 1980; Hunt 1975; 1980.
1. Flowers subsessile; petals clawed, the claws fused basally, forming a tube; stamens arising from
the petals; filaments glabrous OR with long hairs; corollas either purplish red or pale pink to
whitish; species rare in East TX (known only from Gonzales and Travis cos.).
2. Petals pale pink or whitish; filaments hairy; leaf blades elliptic; bracts similar to leaf blades but
smaller; plants flowering Feb–May _________________________________________________ T. buckleyi
2. Petals purplish red; filaments glabrous; leaf blades narrowly lanceolate; bracts ovate, very
different in shape from leaf blades; plants flowering Jul–Oct _____________________________ T. leiandra
1. Flowers on distinct pedicels; petals neither clawed nor fused basally; stamens free from petals;
filaments with long hairs; corollas variously colored; including species widespread and abundant
in East TX.
3. Petals white; plants decumbent, rooting at the nodes; leaf blades lanceolate-elliptic to
narrowly ovate _______________________________________________________________ T. fluminensis
3. Petals variously colored, but only rarely white; plants erect or ascending, only rarely rooting at
the nodes; leaf blades usually linear-lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong.
4. Leaf blades (at least the upper ones) broader than their opened flattened sheaths; species
limited to w part of East TX and further w _____________________________________ T. edwardsiana
4. Leaf blades narrower than to ca. as broad as their opened flattened sheaths; including
species widespread in East TX.
5. Upper internodes glabrous.
6. Sepals glabrous or with only a small tuft of hairs at the tip (these are the only two
East TX species like this; all others have pubescent sepals).
7. Foliage glaucous; leaves 5–45 cm long, arcuate, forming an acute angle with the
stem ________________________________________________________________ T. ohiensis
7. Foliage not to only slightly glaucous; leaves 4–11 cm long, straight, forming a nearly
right angle with the stem _______________________________________________ T. paludosa
6. Sepals sparsely to densely pubescent on the back, the hairs glandular or eglandular.
8. Sepals either completely eglandular-pubescent or with both glandular and
eglandular hairs (use magnification); bracts pilose to glabrous; leaf blades usually
pilose, occasionally lacking hairs ________________________________________ T. hirsutiflora
8. Sepals usually with glandular pubescence only (sometimes with a tuft of eglandular
hairs at the tip); bracts glabrous; leaf blades glabrous ______________________ T. occidentalis
5. Upper internodes variously hairy (puberulent, pilose, or with matted hairs).
9. Hairs on internodes long and matted or tangled, spider-web-like in appearance, �
appressed.
10. Stems erect or ascending, unbranched or infrequently branched, 30–105 cm tall;
roots conspicuously felty with red-brown hairs easily visible to the naked eye
_________________________________________________________________ T. reverchonii
10. Stems spreading and � diffuse, much branched, 10–35 cm long; roots (tuberous
thickened) tomentose but not conspicuously felty to the naked eye ___________ T. subacaulis
9. Hairs on internodes minute or long and � straight, wide-spreading.
11. Sepals with only eglandular pubescence (use magnification).
12. Leaf sheaths glabrous or minutely pubescent; bracts conspicuously saccate
at base, their blades reduced, densely and minutely velutinous ______________ T. gigantea
12. Leaf sheaths long pilose or with long matted or tangled hairs; bracts not conspicuously
saccate at base, their blades well-developed, glabrous to � pilose.
13. Stems 12–50 cm tall, with 2–5 nodes; sepals relatively firm, dull-green to
suffused or edged with rose; pedicels 1–3 cm long __________________ T. hirsutiflora