What is "tradescantia"

Tradescantia \Trad`es*can"ti*a\, n. (Bot.) A genus including spiderwort and Wandering Jew.

Wandering \Wan"der*ing\, a. & n. from Wander, v.

Wandering albatross (Zo["o]l.), the great white albatross. See Illust. of Albatross.

Wandering cell (Physiol.), an animal cell which possesses the power of spontaneous movement, as one of the white corpuscles of the blood.

Wandering Jew (Bot.), any one of several creeping species of Tradescantia, which have alternate, pointed leaves, and a soft, herbaceous stem which roots freely at the joints. They are commonly cultivated in hanging baskets, window boxes, etc.

Wandering kidney (Med.), a morbid condition in which one kidney, or, rarely, both kidneys, can be moved in certain directions; -- called also floating kidney, movable kidney.

Wandering liver (Med.), a morbid condition of the liver, similar to wandering kidney.

Wandering mouse (Zo["o]l.), the whitefooted, or deer, mouse. See Illust. of Mouse.

Wandering spider (Zo["o]l.), any one of a tribe of spiders that wander about in search of their prey.

n. (context botany English) Any of the genus ''Tradescantia'' of spiderworts.

Tradescantia , the spiderworts, is a genus of 75 species of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Commelinaceae, native to the New World from southern Canada south to northern Argentina including the West Indies. They were introduced into Europe as ornamental plants in the seventeenth century and are now grown as such in many parts of the world. Subsequently some species have become naturalized in various regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and assorted oceanic islands.

Tradescantia are weakly upright to scrambling plants, growing to , and are commonly found individually or in clumps in wooded areas and fields. A number of the species flower in the morning and when the sun shines on the flowers in the afternoon they close, but can remain open on cloudy days until evening. The three species of Wandering Jew, one native to eastern Mexico, also belong to the Tradescantia genus. Other names used for various species include spider-lily, cradle-lily, oyster-plant and flowering inch plant.

The genus is of interest to cytogenetics because of the evolutionary changes in the structure and number of their chromosomes. In addition to their use as ornamentals, the genus is of economic importance because a number of species have become pests to cultivated crops. They have also been used as bioindicators for the detection of environmental mutagens.