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 An
Illustrated Guide to
Common Weeds
of New Zealand
Tradescantia
fluminensis
wandering
Jew
Family
COMMELINACEAE
Reproduced from
Common
Weeds of New Zealand
by Ian Popay, Paul Champion & Trevor James
ISBN 0 473 09760 5
by kind permission of the
New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
Publication or other use of images or descriptive
text on these pages is unauthorised unless written permission is
obtained from the authors and publisher.
Appropriate acknowledgement
of the publication Common Weeds of New Zealand must always
be given.
Available from Nationwide Book Distributors
Trailing, fleshy-stemmed,
frost-tender perennial of shaded damp places, that tends to suppress
all other ground cover. White, triangular flowers with three petals.
Leaves dark green, shiny, smooth and slightly fleshy, arranged alternately
on the stem.
- Flowers White,
triangular, about 2 cm in diameter, with three petals and three
green sepals. Each flower is on a slender stalk up to 15 mm long,
and the flowers are produced in small clusters at the ends of
the stems. Flowers Dec-Jan.
- Fruit Fruit
not seen in NZ.
- Leaves Dark
green, shiny, smooth and somewhat fleshy. Broadly elliptical,
3-6 cm long, with short leaf stalks. Leaves pointed, with parallel
veins and hairs on the leaf margins. Leaves abruptly narrowed
at the base to a short sheath which loosely clasps the stem.
- Stems Succulent,
trailing, rooting at the nodes, and curved upwards at the tips.
- Roots The
stems produce roots at nodes wherever they contact the ground.
Habitat
Damp shaded places
in gardens, parks, banks, stream-sides and bush reserves.
Distribution
Common to abundant
in frost-free places throughout NI. Found locally in SI, near
Westport, Havelock and Rarangi in Marlborough, and in Christchurch
in Canterbury.
Comments
A serious problem especially
in native bush, where it gives a dense ground cover that prevents
regeneration of seedlings. This plant does not produce seeds in
NZ, and regenerates only from stem fragments. Listed on the National
Pest Plant Accord (see Introduction for details).
Derivation
of botanical name
Tradescantia for
John Tradescant, 17th cent. botanist; fluminensis (Lat.)
= from Rio de Janeiro.
Web-notes:
Weed Links
On this site
Reproduced from Common Weeds
of New Zealand:
External Links
 Weedbusters
New Zealand
- Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to
protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem.
- AgPest
- A free tool to assist farmers and agricultural professionals in decision-making regarding weed and pest identification, biology, impact and management.
 New Zealand Weeds Key
- An interactive identification key to the weeds of New Zealand. Developed at Landcare Research.
New
Zealand Plant Conservation Network naturalised plants
- Search for information on more than 2500 naturalised and weedy plants.
 New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
- Their main objective: "To pool and exchange information on the biology
of weeds, invertebrate and vertebrate pests, pathogens and beneficial organisms
and methods for modifying their effects."
-
 Massey
University Weeds Database- A site providing information about New Zealand weeds and weed control.
It has a series of pages showing pictures of New Zealand weeds, notes on
identification and control. It also provides information on a university
paper entitled Controlling Weeds.
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