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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
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Thursday - March 26, 2015

From: Orlando, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Non-Natives, Seeds and Seeding
Title: Seeds and seed pods of bluejacket (Tradescantia ohiensis or Hyacinthus orientalis
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have lots of bluejacket flowers in my yard. I keep looking for the seed pods but can't find any seeds. Where are the seed pods located on the bluejacket flower? Thanks. Lew Dallas

ANSWER:

I'm not sure if you mean Tradescantia ohiensis (Bluejacket), a native of North America or you mean Hyacinthus orientalis (Blue jacket), a native of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.

Here is more information about Tradescantia ohienis with photos that show the seeds in the papery seed cases.

Even though Hyacinthus orientalis is a flowering plant and, thus, produces seeds, it is generally propagated by bulbs. Here are more photos of the flowering plant and photos of the ripe seed pods with the seeds inside.  Here are closeups of the seeds and the seed pods.  They will become evident along the flower stalk when the blossoms have dried up.
 

From the Image Gallery


Ohio spiderwort
Tradescantia ohiensis

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