Hairy Spiderwort (Tradescantia hirsuticaulis)

Tradescantia hirsuticaulis is known by the common names Hairy Spiderwort or Hairystem Spiderwort. Blooms are usually purple or rose-pink; some blooms may be white. We found plants in various stages of blooming along the trail before we crossed the creek. At Rock and Shoals Outcrop Natural Area, we found them growing thickly on the hillside by the trail leading up to the stone outcrop in mid-April. We saw both purple and rose-pink blooms; most were purple.

Plants on the slope along the trail from the creek up the hill to the stone outcrop.

An individual clump of plants.

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Buds developing

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Purple blooms; just opening and fully opened

A purple bloom in profile

Rose-pink blooms

A rose-pink bloom in profile.

Although purple blooms predominated at Rock and Shoals Outcrop Natural Area, we found rose-pink blooms predominating in a lawn near the Broad River Wildlife Management Area.

Tradescantia hirsuticaulis is native to the United States; it is found in dry woods and rocky outcrops in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
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Distribution Map:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Tradescantia hirsuticaulis (Hairystem Spiderwort)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Tradescantia hirsuticaulis

Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Hairy Spiderwort (Tradescantia hirsuticaulis)
- Natural and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Hairy Spiderwort (Tradescantia hirsuticaulis)
- Alabama Plants: Tradescantia hirsuticaulis

Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower – Wildflower Index
- Rock and Shoals Outcrop Natural Area; Part 1, Blue Trail
- Rock and Shoals Outcrop Natural Area: Mid-April Wildflowers