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Tradescantia ohiensis.jpg  Tradescantia ohiensis1.jpg  Tradescantia ohiensis2.jpg 

 

NAME: Spiderwort

SPECIES / FAMILY:  Tradescantia Ohiensis / Commelinaceae

OTHER COMMON NAME(S):  Virginia or Ohio spiderwort

CONDITIONS: sun
 

PARTS:

EDIBLE cid:image001.jpg@01D3EC3E.A305A520

TASTE

RAW/COOK

SEASON

All

 

 

 

 

Shoots

 mild

RAW/COOK

 Spring

Leaves

 young

 mild    

Stalk/Stem

 

 

 

 

Buds

       

Flowers

cid:image001.jpg@01D3EC3E.A305A520

 

RAW/COOK

 Summer

Fruits

 

 

 

 

Pods

 

 

   

Seeds

 

 

 

 

Nuts

 

 

 

 

Roots

 

 

 

 

Bark

 

 

 

 

 

PORTION: small

 

COMMENT:  Spiderwort is easy to eat and a beautiful plant which grows in clusters. Native to the U.S. and was exported to UK in colonial times.// The very young shoots and leaves can be chopped and added to salads or cooked as a potherb. Flowers - raw. They make an attractive edible garnish.(1)

 

CAUTION: The normally blue stamen hairs indicated mutation by turning pink when exposed to radiation. The same effect has since been observed when the dayflower plant is subjected to chemical pollution.(4)

 

NUTRITION/MEDICINAL: Minor amounts of vitamins and minerals.(4) Kidney;  Laxative;  Poultice;  Women's complaints. The roots are laxative. They are also used as a tea in the treatment of kidney and stomach ailments and women's complaints. A poultice of the leaves is applied to stings, insect bites and cancers.(1)

 

LOOK-A-LIKES:  

 

POISONOUS LOOK-A-LIKES: 

 

OTHER USES:

 

SOURCE LINKS (may include nutritional and medicinal info, plus other uses):

  1. https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Tradescantia+virginiana
  2. http://www.eattheweeds.com/spiderwort-pocahontas-and-gamma-rays/
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradescantia_ohiensis
  4. http://www.foragingtexas.com/2011/11/spiderwort.html (good photos)
  5. http://www.ediblewildfood.com/spiderwort.aspx (good photos)
  6. http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2011/04/itsy-bitsy-spiderwort.html (also signals radiation!)
  7. https://www.tyrantfarms.com/tradescantia-virginiana-native-edible-landscape-plant (excellent article!)
  8. https://weedsanddeeds.com/spiderwort
  9. https://www.flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-tradescantia