spiderwort Bot.
Also spider-wort.
† 1. One or other plant of the liliaceous genus Anthericum (earlier Phalangium). Obs.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. xxxiii. 45 The first [branched spiderwort] is called of the Latines..Phalangium,..in English it is called Spiderwoort... The leaues..stand vpon the ground with long legs and the knees bowing vp like the spiders legs when he creepeth. 1629 Parkinson Parad. xv. 152 The vnbranched Spiderwort most commonly flowereth before all the other. 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. xxii. 418 Spiderwort..is Alexipharmick and cures the biting of all venomous beasts. 1705 A. Behn tr. Cowley's Plants C.'s Wks. 1711 III. 379 Thou Spider-Wort dost with the Monster strive And from the conquer'd Foe thy Name derive. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Phalangium, Branched Spider-wort... Unbranched Spider-wort... African Spider-wort [etc.]. 1751 J. Hill Nat. Hist. 375 The plane-leaved and simple-stalked Anthericum, single-stalked spiderwort. 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. III. 312 The spiderwort,..the lesser spearwort, the butterwort, have evidently suspicious marks. |
b. mountain spiderwort or saffron spiderwort (see quots.).
| 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 339 Anthericum serotinum, Mountain Saffron. Saffron Spiderwort. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1083 Spiderwort,..Mountain, Lloydia serotina. |
2. One or other of the plants belonging to the genus Tradescantia; esp. T. virginica, Virginian spiderwort.
Parkinson states that he originated this use.
| 1629 Parkinson Parad. xv. 152 Phalangium Ephemerum virginianum Ioannis Tradescant,..Tradescant his Spider⁓wort. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. 109/2 The Virginia Spider-Wort, or Day Flower,..is..on the back of a sullen yellowish hue. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Ephemeron, Virginian Spider-wort, with a small blue Flower, commonly call'd John Tradescant's Spider-wort. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 385 You have besides the scarlet Lichnis, Virginian Spiderwort. 1829 Loudon Encycl. Pl. (1836) 260 Tradescantia. Spiderwort..common,..rose-flowered,..thick-leaved [etc.]. 1831 Audubon Ornith. I. 154 The Virginian Spider-wort..is distinguished by its erect, succulent stem. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1159/2 Tradescantia virginica is the Common Spiderwort of gardens. 1882 Garden 1 Apr. 212/2 This rare and beautiful Spiderwort is now finely in flower. |
3. Savoy spiderwort, the hemerocallis or day-lily; also, † a variety of Tradescantia.
| 1629 Parkinson Parad. 150 Phalangium Allobrogicum, the Sauoye Spiderwort. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. 99/2 Savoy Spider-wort hath thin small sedgy leaves of a whitish green. 1721 Mortimer Husb. II. 236 Spider Wort. The Italian and the Savoy are the only ones fit for your choice. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Ephemeron, Virginian Spider-wort, with a large azure Flower, commonly call'd the Savoy Spider-wort. 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 Spider⁓wort, Great Savoy, Hemerocallis. 1829 Loudon Encycl. Pl. (1836) 260 Hemerocallis Liliastrum. Savoy-Spiderwort. |
4. Any plant belonging to the order Commelynaceæ, which includes the genus Tradescantia.
| 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 188 The Spiderworts are plants which exhibit a transition from the first remove out of the regions of sedge-like plants to the true Lilies. 1866 Treas. Bot. 228/1 Cartonema, the generic name of one of the Spiderworts. |
| attrib. 1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. 485 Commelynaceæ (Spiderwort Family). 1861 Bentley Man. Bot. 680 Commelynaceæ, the Spider-Wort Order. |
5. U.S. A plant of the genus Cleome, belonging to the caper family.
| 1846–50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 172 Cleome pungens, Spiderwort... A common garden plant, with curious purple flowers. |