A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Tradescantia ohiensis
Tall, perennial plant with linear, gray-green leaves and blue-violet flowers. The flower color varies depending on the angle and lighting. This flower is exhibiting a petal mutation in which it has two petals rather than the typical three. This was likely caused by damage to the bud resulting in alterations in the meristematic tissue. Spiderworts are included in the Monocots class along with lilies, grasses, irises, and orchids. The word "monocot" is an abbreviation of "monocotyledon," which can be translated to "single seed leaf." This refers to the fact that monocots are plants with seeds that contain one embryonic leaf rather than two (as in the dicots).
Growing on the side of a road on a sunny hillside at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Marietta, Georgia.
A link to the "normal" specimens nearby: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/213...
4 Comments
Thank you, Christine! <3 I love Nature's surprises!
Fantastic and unusual :-)
:) Haha! It threw me off when I first spotted it too! You are quite welcome! I'm glad you liked my spotting!
And I was just wondering on what happened to that third petal... Thanks for your great notes!