Identification
This erect, usually unbranched native perennial grows up to 18 inches tall. Long, narrow, alternate leaves 4-12 inches long and 1/2 inch wide have pointed tips with bases that wrap around the stem. Several flowers on short stalks occur in groups (cymes) at the top of the stem (B). Beneath the flowers are two long, narrow green bracts similar to the leaves (A). The 1 inch flowers have 3 oval blue to rose-violet petals, 6 stamens with bright yellow tips and a single pistil. Hairy flower stalks and light green sepals (C) separate this species from similar Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis).
Grows in moist prairies and open woodlands, flowering from May through July. At Neale Woods, it is rare in Nebraska prairie. Most plants the author has seen at Neale Woods are Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis). It was present in a planted floodplain prairie at Fontenelle Forest prior to the major flood of 2011, but has not been seen recently at FF.
Spiderwort flowers open in the morning, lasting only one day. Rather than dropping, they turn into a mucilaginous jelly that flows like a tear, a feature responsible for some of its rather picturesque common names like Cow Slobbers and Snotweed. It is also known as Blue Jackets.
The content of NatureSearch is provided by dedicated volunteer Naturalists of Fontenelle Forest who strive to provide the most accurate information available. Contributors of the images retain their copyrights. The point of contact for this page is: Neal Ratzlaff.