on the Prairie

Tradescantia bracteata, commonly known as bracted spiderwort, blooming in the short grass prairie in the foothills of the Black Hills. Also known as dayflower, the individual blossoms are only open for a single morning, similar to the familiar orange daylilies. You will find them in the early morning, but go looking for them in the early evening, and they are gone.

There seems to be some disagreement about why the name spiderwort. Wort being an old English word for plant or herb is obvious, the "spider" part not so much! I found references to its stamens resembling a spider's legs (see photo). The thick sap of the plant has a gluey texture that forms thin strings when drawn out, someone thought that looked like spider's silk. A local name in some areas of Kansas is "cow slobber", because some wag thought that same stringy, gooey texture looked just like cow slobber! Gotta love that one!