Widow's Tears. Tinantia erecta, Upright Spiderwort, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Well, yes. In English this pretty Dayflower or Spiderwort is often called 'Widow's Tears'. There are various explanations why that name; none convince me. But on this rainy day, the sky, so to say, wept upon our Flower.
It was first described at the end of the eighteenth century as Tradescantia erecta. In 1839 Michael Joseph François Scheidweiler (1799-1961) - German-born but working in Belgium - established the name Tinantia erecta for this plant. Tinantia honors François Auguste Tinant (1803-1858), who wrote the first botanical handbook for Luxembourg.
Widow's Tears. Tinantia erecta, Upright Spiderwort, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Well, yes. In English this pretty Dayflower or Spiderwort is often called 'Widow's Tears'. There are various explanations why that name; none convince me. But on this rainy day, the sky, so to say, wept upon our Flower.
It was first described at the end of the eighteenth century as Tradescantia erecta. In 1839 Michael Joseph François Scheidweiler (1799-1961) - German-born but working in Belgium - established the name Tinantia erecta for this plant. Tinantia honors François Auguste Tinant (1803-1858), who wrote the first botanical handbook for Luxembourg.