Wildflower ID

[Jack B.]

I saw this wildflower growing quite a bit around northern Arkansas a week ago. Can anyone identify it for me? Blue flowers, 2-3 feet hight.

RB

[Alice B]

Transcandia (spider wort)

alice

[paghat]

Some type of allium?

-paggers

[B & J]

Looks like spiderwort to me. Check this site:

[griffon]

Arkansas a lot. There are two or three different tradescantias that grow in the area though. If this was in Northeast Arkansas it might have been tradescantia subaspara, I do not belive it grows in the western region.

[Vox Humana]

Definately tradescantia, name for John Tradescant (the younger) who discovered the plant on an expedition to the Virginia colony.

John Tradescants Both the Tradescants became famous in their own time. They were gardeners to royalty, collectors of curiosities, travellers and importers of exotic plants. The John Tradescants are buried in the church yard of St-Mary-at-Lambeth which is now the Museum of Garden History, along with the grandson of the same name, who died aged nineteen. The knot garden at the museum is in the style of the Tradescants' time. To be 'curious' was a compliment in Elizabethan/Jacobean times and both Tradescants became famous for gardening, design, travel and their collection of curiosities. The epitaph on their tombstone describes very well why they became well known, and the interest there is today in their activities. This can be read today on their tomb at the museum.

The Elder John Tradescant first travelled after 1609 when he entered the service of Robert Cecil who became the first Earl of Salisbury. He visited Europe to bring back plants and trees including roses, fritillaries and mulberries to the gardens at Hatfield. Later, in the service of Sir Edward Wotton, Tradescant accompanied a diplomatic mission to Russia, and he also visited Algiers, always taking botanical notes and gathering plants. By the

1620's Tradescant had achieved a prominent position as a director of gardens whose advice was sought by the highest in the land.

In 1626 Tradescant leased a house in Lambeth where he developed his own garden and a cabinet of curiosities where he displayed 'all things strange and rare' that he brought back from his travels. The original is in the Ashmolean, and a copy is on display in the museum. Tradescant's home came to be called the 'Ark' and was an essential site to see in London at the time as more was being learnt about the world and different cultures. It was the first museum of its kind in Britain open to the public, charging 6d admission.

John Tradescant the Younger travelled even further afield than his father, visiting Virginia three times. He introduced the Tulip tree and a Yucca plant, and also increased the collection at the Ark with artifacts from America - these included the mantle of Powhattan, the father of Pocahontas. The younger John Tradescant also succeeded his father as royal gardener. At the suggestion of Elias Ashmole, he began to catalogue the collection at the Ark, and the Musaeum Tradescantianum of 1656 was the first museum catalogue published.

Tradescant willed that the collection was to go to his widow on his death but Elias Ashmole obtained the collection by deed of gift and established the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford with the collection. Some of these original items can still be seen in that museum and Ashmole is also buried at the Museum of Garden History. The tomb of the Tradescants stands beside the knot garden near that of Captain Bligh of the Bounty, and is covered in carvings representing their interests in life which marked them out as curious men.

[Frogleg]

[CHEX]

Looks like Spiderwort to me

[Frogleg]

My neighbor has an identical plant she just bought with the nursery label on it. Agapanthus. The OP mentions a height of 3 feet; Spiderwort grows 1-2 feet and "may reach" 30 inches.

[Marcy Hege]

I have both spiderwort and agapanthus in my garden. My guess is that your photo appears to be spiderwort and is a native wildflower in many parts of US. Agapanthus is a native of South Africa.

[Jack B.]

Thanks to all who responded. After a little research, it must be a variety of Transcandia (spider wort). It looks a lot like Agapanthus, but Agapanthus wouldn't be found growing native in the rocky highlands of northern Arkansas. Almost wish I'd dug one up and brought home from my hiking trip!

RB