911.000 Tradescantia L.

Herbs, some erect, others prostrate and mat-forming. Inflorescences mostly terminal, composed of fused pairs of cymes, subtended by paired boat-shaped bracts. Flowers bisexual, radially symmetric. Sepals 3. Petals 3, usually free, sometimes united, blue-violet, mauve, pink or white. Stamens 6, all fertile and ± similar. Ovary 3-locular with (1-)2 ovules in each loculus. Fruit a dehiscent capsule.

Derivation of name: Named after John Tradescant, gardener to Charles I, who died c.1638

Worldwide: 70 species in America

Mozambique: 1 cultivated taxon.