Do you recognize this common prairie wildflower?
Ohio spiderwort flower preparing to open.
Spiderwort is a common wildflower in many prairies. The species goes by many names – often related to its stringy gooey sap. Snotweed is one of my favorites, but my 4th grade son’s favorite is “cow slobber” (although he likes “snotweed” too, of course).
The species shown here is Ohio Spiderwort (aka “bluejacket”), which can be found throughout most of eastern North America. I find spiderworts to be particularly photogenic flowers, and consequently have a lot more photos of them than I probably need. However, this shot is a little different from the rest because the flower is just starting to open, and it shows the underside of the petals as they’re unfolding from the bud.
The Prairie Ecologist 
Seems like way too pretty a flower to be called ‘snotweed’.
Some people would argue that “spiderwort” isn’t much better! It joins a number of other pretty flowers with less-than-attractive names…
Chris
I thought this was going to be a quiz. Obviously Tradescantia mucosa. :)
Nice one…
Very nice, Chris. Those bluish-purple colors are really hard to capture. Many digital sensors don’t respond well to them. I like the light – cloudy day?
Thanks! Yeah, bright overcast day, if I remember correctly. My favorite kind of day.
I’m trying to locate a photo of snot weed aka spiderwort that shows the “snot.” Any ideas where to find one? I wish I would have taken one when I have seen this awesome plant. Thanks!
Hi Brian, I don’t have a shot like that, but I should! I’ll try to remedy that this year…
That would be great! Thanks Chris.