spiderwort

American  

[spahy-der-wurt, -wawrt] / ˈspaɪ dərˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt /

noun

1. any plant of the genus Tradescantia, having blue, purple, or rose-colored flowers.

2. any of several related plants.

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spiderwort British  

/ ˈspaɪdəˌwɜːt /

noun

1. any of various plants of the American genus Tradescantia, esp T. virginiana, having blue, purplish, or pink flowers and widely grown as house plants: family Commelinaceae See also tradescantia

2. any of various similar or related plants

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Etymology

Origin of spiderwort

First recorded in 1590–1600; spider + wort ²

Example Sentences

A name given it in a cottage garden in Wayland was Blue Spider-flower, which seems more suited than that of Spiderwort for the Tradescantia.

From Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth by Earle, Alice Morse

Spiderwort, like all "three-cornered" flowers, is a flower of mystery; and so little cared for to-day that it is almost extinct in our gardens, save where it persists in out-of-the-way spots.

From Old-Time Gardens Newly Set Forth by Earle, Alice Morse

Here, too, the Spiderwort of our gardens, in a meeker form of beauty and with a paler radiance, luxuriated under the protection of the wood.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 46, August, 1861 by Various

Tradescants' Spiderwort and Aster are well known to this day, and Linn�us has immortalised them among the botanists by making a new genus under their names of the Spiderwort, which had been before called Ephemeron.

From Notes and Queries, Number 79, May 3, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Bell, George

Compound 3-carpellary pistil of Tradescantia or Spiderwort; the three stigmas as well as styles and ovary completely coalescent into one.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa