''Tradescantia pallida'' is a species of

spiderwort ''Tradescantia'' () is a genus of 85 species of herbaceous perennial wildflowers in the family Commelinaceae, native to the Americas from southern Canada to northern Argentina, including the West Indies. Members of the genus are known by many co ...

(a genus of

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s) similar to '' T. fluminensis'' and '' T. zebrina''. The cultivar ''T. pallida'' 'Purpurea' is commonly called purple secretia, purple-heart, or purple queen. It is native to the Gulf Coast region of eastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Edward Palmer Edward Palmer may refer to: * Edward Palmer (d.1624) (1555–1624), antiquary and projector of a university in Virginia * Edward Palmer (socialist) (1802–1886), American religious socialist * Edward Palmer (Canadian politician) (1809–1889), Pri ...

collected the type specimen near

Ciudad Victoria Ciudad Victoria () is the seat of the Municipality of Victoria, and the capital of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located in the northeast of Mexico at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental. It borders the municipality of Güémez to ...

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

in 1907.

Names

The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''pallida'' means "pale".

Description

''Tradescantia pallida'' is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

of scrambling stature. It is distinguished by elongated, pointed

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

- themselves glaucous green, sometimes fringed with red or purple - and bearing small, sterile three-petaled

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s of white, pink or purple. Plants are top-killed by moderate frosts, but will often sprout back from roots. The cultivar ''T. pallida'' 'Purpurea' has purple leaves and pink flowers.

Cultivation

Widely used as an ornamental plant in gardens and borders, as a ground cover, hanging plant, or - particularly in colder climates where it cannot survive the winter season -

houseplant A houseplant, sometimes known as a pot plant, potted plant, or an indoor plant, is an ornamental plant that is grown indoors. As such, they are found in places like residences and offices, mainly for decorative purposes. Common houseplants are us ...

, it is propagated easily by cuttings (the stems are visibly segmented and

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s will frequently grow from the joints). As a houseplant, ''T. pallida'' has been judged exceptionally effective at improving indoor air quality by filtering out

volatile organic compounds Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature Colloquially, "room temperature" is a range of air temperatures that most people prefer for indoor settings. It feels comfortable to a ...

, a class of common pollutants and respiratory irritants, an effect known as

phytoremediation Phytoremediation technologies use living plants to clean up soil, air and water contaminated with hazardous contaminants. It is defined as "the use of green plants and the associated microorganisms, along with proper soil amendments and agronomi ...

. Numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a type of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and when Plant propagation, propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and st ...

are available, of which 'Purpurea' with purple foliage has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Gallery

File:PurpHeart1.jpg, Leaves, superior aspect
(''T. pallida'' 'Purpurea') File:PurpHeart2.jpg, Leaves, inferior aspect
(''T. pallida'' 'Purpurea') File:Tradescantia pallida flower.jpg, Flower
(''T. pallida'' 'Purpurea') File:T.pallida.jpg, Close-up shot of flower
(''T. pallida'' 'Purpurea')

References

External links

* *
Purple heart, Wandering Jew at Desert Tropicals
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1563504

pallida This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...

Plants described in 1975 Flora of Tabasco Flora of Tamaulipas Flora of Veracruz Flora of the Yucatán Peninsula Medicinal plants Garden plants of North America House plants Groundcovers Phytoremediation plants