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Tradescantia occidentalis

(Britt.) Smyth

Prairie Spiderwort

G5Secure Found in 20 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.139914
Element CodePMCOM0B0F0
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassMonocotyledoneae
OrderCommelinales
FamilyCommelinaceae
GenusTradescantia
Other Common Names
prairie spiderwort (EN) Tradescantie de l'Ouest (FR) Western Spiderwort (EN)
Concept Reference
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-03-21
Change Date1988-08-31
Edition Date2025-03-21
Edition AuthorsSoteropoulos (2025)
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
Tradescantia occidentalis is a perennial herb in a variety of open habitats occurring in central North America from Wisconsin, United States and Manitoba west to Alberta, Canada south to Mississippi west to Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico. There are over 2,000 occurrences which potentially face threats from development, conversion to agriculture or pasture, rights-of-way maintenance activities, invasive species, and other threats in some places. Little is known about trends, but with a large range extent and large number of occurrences, abundant habitat, broad habitat preferences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities, this species is considered secure.
Range Extent Comments
Tradescantia occidentalis occurs in central North America from Wisconsin, United States and Manitoba west to Alberta, Canada south to Mississippi west to Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico (FNA 2000, Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2024). Range extent was estimated to be over 4 million square kilometers using herbarium specimens and photo-based observations documented between 1994 and 2025 (RARECAT 2024, GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, SEINet 2025).
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens and photo-based observations documented between 1994 and 2025, it is estimated that there are over 2,000 occurrences rangewide (RARECAT 2024, GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, SEINet 2025).
Threat Impact Comments
Although threats are not widely documented, this species is potentially threatened by development, conversion to agriculture or pasture, rights-of-way maintenance activities, invasive species, and other threats in some places. However, their overall impact is likely negligible given the species' broad range, large number of occurrences, and no obvious intrinsic vulnerabilities.
Ecology & Habitat

Description

Perennial, subsucculent herbaceous plant. Roots both fleshy and succulent. Stems to 60 cm in height. Leaves, green with a whitish bloom, alternate, linear-lanceolate, entire, 6-50 cm in length and 0.2-2.0 cm broad, with sheathing bases. Inflorescence umbellate, subtended by elongate bracts similar to the foliage leaves. Bracts to 60 cm long. Flower stalks, 1-2 cm long, and glandular hairy. Sepals 3, 6-12 mm long, glandular hairy, with purplish margins. Petals 3, blue to rose, broadly ovate, and 7-15 mm long. One flower in each cluster opens each day, and lasts for only a few hours. Stamens six. Fruit a capsule with three locules (sections), each locule producing 3-6 oblong seeds, 2-4 mm long, yellow to dark brown in colour.

Diagnostic Characteristics

Perennial, subsucculent herb, with alternate linear-lanceolate leaves with basal sheaths. Inflorescence an umbellate cluster, subtended by two elongate bracts. Flowers perfect, regular, with three glandular-hairy sepals, and three blue to rose coloured petals. Stamens 6. Fruit a capsule with three locules, each locule containing 1 or more seeds. Associated with sandhill habitats.

Habitat

Tradescantia occidentalis grows in prairies, plains, fields, thickets, woods, forests, moist canyons and streambanks, roadsides, and along railroads, mostly in sandy or rocky soils (FNA 2000).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest EdgeWoodland - MixedGrassland/herbaceous
Palustrine Habitats
Riparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN1
ProvinceRankNative
ManitobaS1Yes
SaskatchewanS1Yes
AlbertaS1Yes
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
MississippiSNRYes
UtahSNRYes
MinnesotaSNRYes
New JerseySNANo
KansasSNRYes
NebraskaSNRYes
LouisianaSNRYes
ArizonaSNRYes
New MexicoSNRYes
WyomingS4Yes
OklahomaSNRYes
WisconsinSNRYes
South DakotaSNRYes
North DakotaSNRYes
MontanaS4Yes
ArkansasSNRYes
IowaSUYes
New YorkSNANo
ColoradoS4Yes
TexasSNRYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined———

—

Plant Characteristics
DurationPERENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (20)
Arizona (7)
AreaForestAcres
Blind Indian CreekPrescott National Forest26,847
BoulderTonto National Forest40,359
Burro CanyonKaibab National Forest19,928
Catalina St. Pk. Roadless AreaCoronado National Forest951
Cdo WsaCoronado National Forest1,955
Sierra Ancha Wilderness ContiguousTonto National Forest7,787
Upper Romero WsrCoronado National Forest150
Colorado (1)
AreaForestAcres
Comanche Peak Adjacent AreaArapaho & Roosevelt NFs44,158
New Mexico (3)
AreaForestAcres
El InviernoSanta Fe National Forest29,927
LemitasSanta Fe National Forest8,129
West Face Sacramento MountainsLincoln National Forest41,176
North Dakota (5)
AreaForestAcres
DurlerDakota Prairie Grasslands12,464
MagpieDakota Prairie Grasslands21,281
McleodDakota Prairie Grasslands9,117
SheyenneDakota Prairie Grasslands14,537
VenloDakota Prairie Grasslands5,317
Utah (3)
AreaForestAcres
Box - Death HollowDixie National Forest3,175
FishhookDixie National Forest12,959
Hog RanchDixie National Forest17,130
Wyoming (1)
AreaForestAcres
Laramie PeakMedicine Bow-Routt National Forest28,608
References (7)
  1. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2000. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 22. Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (in part), and Zingiberidae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiii + 352 pp.
  2. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2025. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2025).
  3. iNaturalist. 2025. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2025).
  4. Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
  5. NatureServe's Rapid Analysis of Rarity and Endangerment Conservation Assessment Tool (RARECAT). 2024. Version: 1.1.1 (released Oct 01, 2024).
  6. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2025. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2025).
  7. Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2025. Flora of the southeastern United States Web App. Edition of February 18, 2025. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Online. Available: https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu (accessed 2025).