Tradescantia Species, Moses-in-a-Basket, Boatlily, Oyster Plant, Christ in the Cradle

We live in the Coachella Valley. This is a part of the hot arid Sonoran Desert. 3 years ago we planted Trandescantia spathacea or Moses-i...Read Moren-a-basket because my wife liked it. We knew nothing about it and didn't know if it would grow here. It was planted under a pygmy palm and against a block wall with too much shade. For a year and half it got too much water and we ignored it. It lived thru the winter and summer. Recently, I admired it for it's determination to live so decided to learn more about it and encourage it. We now keep it drier and give it more light and it is now even more attractive than ever.

Auckland, New Zealand, zone 9b/10. Saw this plant groing in someone's yard and loved it. So planted a small one in the garden. It kind of...Read More just sat there over winter but once the weather warmed up it started to take off, and now I am thinking it's going to need a bit of control before too long to stop it taking over. Various websites say it only grows a foot tall, but it seems to be about double that, it's loving our climate.

I received this plant from my dad, he split his own. I am growing it inside because it rains way to much for this delicate baby here in w...Read Moreestern Washington. Out of all my plants it is my favorite. I enjoy the changing colors and have become emotionally attached. I am sad to hear that some dogs are allergic. I have a friend with two dogs asking for a start. thanks for the info! I'll pass it along.

Beautiful plant. Became became apparent I was clearing brush. Beautiful plant. Came up in s/w FL - Arcadia, FL.

Soo c...Read Moreool. Green top, purple bottom w/with tiny little white flowers. & purple pods. HAd I tried to grow this myself it would have croaked.

I wondered why I hadn't seen this beautiful plant in Southern California gardens. Now I know. I bought three at a big box and planted t...Read Morehem in an area that gets partial sun, even in the winter. I was careful not to water overhead, and kept them moist. They lasted for a while, but the minute we had a very light frost, they began to decline. The weather warmed up, and they continued to decline. Sunset listed them as being a tough plant, but that has not been my experience here in Pasadena (21 Sunset, 9a USDA). I think the soil in California may be too heavy, though this plant might be okay in beachside communities here. I don't know if they are dead to the roots yet. I'm leaving them in situ.

While I love this plant for its clumping ability, and thus it will cover a large area with time, I am severely allergic to the plant and ...Read Morehave been advised to completely coverup when gardening.
Wherever the plant touched my skin a break out in a raised reddened area. Even more weird - I also get these red itchy patches where I haven't had direct contact, but only after direct contact. For example, today I purposely rubbed the plant on my forearm as a test and came out in a red rash at that spot, but also on my upper thigh.
I'm highly amused to read that dogs commonly are allergic to this plant.
Leanne

I bought this plant for the purple color and pretty pink blossoms but did know much about it. Planted it in a large pot by the walkway an...Read Mored have enjoyed it. I have a dashund that has been to the vets several times over the past few months with sores from scratching on his stomach & back. The Dr. knows he has an allergy & asummed it was from the yard grass. He has been on steroids, antibiotics, creams, twice in 3 mos. He's fine in the front yard. After hundreds of dollars & reading this I do think I know now what his allergy is from. Thank you so much.

Extremely aggressive. Taking over my garden, although I had it pulled out about a year ago. It has reseeded itself and continues to gro...Read Morew from the rhizomes left behind. I am in the process of doing the job myself and taking out the rhizomes and as much of the roots as possible. It is very difficult to get all the little seedlings carpeting the ground. The worst part is that it seems that I am allergic to the plant. I developed a rash similar to poison ivy. I know what poison ivy looks like and do not have any in the area where I have been clearing up the oyster plant. I have no dogs, which I understand to actually be allergic to this plant. I had this problem before and that was the reason why I hired workers to clear this pest. Has anyone heard of contact dermatitis from oyster plant?

I haven't had this one long enough to make any judgments as to how my experience is. I can see for reading the other comments it could be...Read More a problem. Since I have dogs and it can become invasive I will keep it in pots and see how it does. I may change my notes on this later.

This is a tricky to maintain plant. Left in a pot in the winter here in the bay area is almost sure death for the Variegated Moses,hard,b...Read Moreut not as hard on the plain species. Kept outside under shelter is best. Slug and snail favorite.

I think this is a lovely houseplant here in Nebraska. I received it as a college graduation gift from my great-Aunt. It was originally ...Read Moremy great-grandmother's. My only problem is that the shape has really changed since I've had it. It's gone from more compact and bushy to very spread out. Does anyone know of a way to prune it maybe to get it back to the compact fullness that is so pretty with the purple leaves?

We live in Kailua-Kona, HI and the plant does very well here. Unfortunately we have dogs and they have developed a terrible rash that on...Read Morely steriods help. As I post, we are removing the Oyster plants. Be safe and don't use these plants if you have dogs, the rash symptoms are terrible and causes pain to the dog as it scratces itself raw until they are bleeding.

I have 2 dogs who liked to lay in this cause it stays cool.
They both develop terrible rashes on their paws and belly that is hard...Read More to cure. Only with shots and benedryl.
DO NOT HAVE WHERE THERE ARE DOGS..!!!

I have been researching this plant. It grows in various locations on my property. I have allowed it to run free and it is spreading every...Read Morewhere. . I find it quite attractive as a ground cover. It is almost totally weedfree and highly drought resistant. I am trying to water minimally and certain plants fit well into my scheme. Sorry if it's invasive, but I love this plant for my South Florida property.

I have the varigated oyster plant. Love it! I grow it as a houseplant obviously since I am so far north. It loves to be outside in ful...Read Morel shade during the summer months and really grows quite well during that time. Mine has never flowered. Very pretty plant.

For many years I thought that the oyster plant was a harmless plant that provided good ground cover along fences in Florida. Recently my...Read More dog, I discovered, has developed a horrible allergy to this plant. Her underside breaks out in a rash which is hard to control. After a week long regimen of benadryl and steroids the itchy rash subsides, but the steroids cause other complications (uncontrollable urinating and an increased appetite). And then if we are unlucky enough, she manages to get into the plants again while playing with the neighborhood squirrels.

I do not recommend this plant in any yard that has house pets that like to travel along the fence where the plant likes to grow. The plant has juices that can cause burning and itching to human skin as well.

I have the dwarf variety of this oyster plant. It is not invasive and is a great border plant. It says where I put it and doesn't pop u...Read Morep in unwanted areas. It has filled in nicely after about 5 years.

I grow this as a houseplant up here in Indiana. When I put it outside for the summer, it really gets full and bushy and full of its littl...Read Moree flowers. Mine is the purple variety, making a very nice accent wherever I put it. Surely growing it up here does not contribute to its invasive tendencies further south.

I see this plant far too often to find it pretty... It pops up everywhere here if there is another oyster plant nearby. There are pups co...Read Morempletely covering the ground in some of my beds, whether it be in shade or in sun. If they had blooms like bromeliads, I might change my mind about the plant. :)
As it is, the white blooms are hardly noticeable, and now that I know it spreads by seeds I find them even less appealing! Please show sympathy for Floridians by taking some home with you after you've visited us.

I received a small piece of this plant from a friend. I put it in soil mixed with orchid bark and it lives inside in a pot next to the ki...Read Moretchen sink. It is very interesting and seems to be very happy. When I look at this plant it reminds me of some weird type of orchid.

I am in southern California (zone 8) for about 6 months and it didn't do well outside. It gets up to 115 here in the summers and the air ...Read Moreis dry the majority of the time. The leaves burned or shriveled up even in the shade. The stems were starting to shrivel also. Zero growth even with reg watering. But after reading this forum, I moved it inside to the bathroom where it thrives in the humidity. I keep it on the bathroom sill where it gets very strong CA sun. Now it has grown significanly in only two weeks. It sprouts new leaves almost everyday! Green leaves slowly turn to a deep purple. The "spray" of the leaves reminds me of the Spider plant which I adore. Two plants have now sprouted into four. I read somewhere that they love to be rootbound so I won't disturb it for a long time. I nearly gave up on this plant because I thought it was impossible to please. But I'm so happy I didn't. I look forward to the tiny flowers but if they don't come, the folige is still beautiful. If others in So. Ca have tried to grown these with no luck, remember, humidity is key.

I have to say I like this very attractive and "well groomed looking" plant, but can tell in the few seasons I've grown this species there...Read More is the distinct possibility it could become invasive as far north as extreme north Florida (8b-9a). Mine is well contained within concrete barriers and wooden fences, but it does quite fine here hard on the Georgia state line -- even in shady and damp conditions. It spreads nicely, but not aggressively in a fairly low light situation. I can only imagine what it might do in the hot, dry climate it apparently prefers. A couple of severe freezes (multiple nights in the low to mid 20's) here in N. Florida only knocked it down a bit --- it came roaring right back in the spring from the roots. Thanks to all who warned about it aggressive tendencies.

Boatlily, Moses-in-the-Cradle or Moses-in-the-Basket or Oyster Plant (Tradescantia spathacea) is highly invasive in the U.S. in disturbed...Read More areas, coastal strand, vacant lots, around old buildings as well as in very many natural habitats in central and southern Florida from zone 9a south along both coasts through the Keys, Bahamas, and parts of the Caribbean, where it also is invasive in some or many areas. It is fast-growing, propagates by underground roots and runners (also often by seed), and quickly invades and colonizes disturbed sites such as around old or abandoned buildings, in the cracks of sidewalks and concrete, and in vacant, weedy or undeveloped lots as well as very often in parks, nature preserves and natural habitats, crowding out other low native groundcovering vegetation and preventing germination of native plants by forming thick groundcovers and spreading over the ground, crowding out and preventing germination of native species. If not controlled, it quickly gets out of control in the garden and spreads quickly by runners and cuttings and new seedlings, spreading out of yards into all surrounding habitats, including natural areas, remnants of natural vegetation, and onto other yards and properties. It is listed by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council's Pest Plant List (FLEPPC) as a Category One Invasive due to it's nearly uncontrollable spreading into surrounding areas, whether disturbed or natural habitats and/or preserves. It is very invasive especially near the coasts of southeast and southwest Florida in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin and St. Lucie counties as well as along the entire southwest coast of Florida from Pasco and possibly Hernando counties and the Tampa Bay Area southward. It is also extremely invasive in the Keys on undeveloped lots, in coastal strand, on roadsides and roadside borders, along fences and natural havitats and in natural habitats such as sandy coastal areas (disturbed or undisturbed), hammocks, sunnny sites, and on the backside of natural beach dunes. It also quickly colonizes sites along the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida as well as in all previous areas described all from zone 9a (central Florida) south through the rest of the state and the Keys. Please, DO NOT PLANT THIS PLANT IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH FLORIDA AND ANYWHERE ELSE WHERE IT CAN BECOME INVASIVE!

MORE FACTS - Quickly colonizes and is often very invasive in areas such as weedy vacant lots already colonized by other exotic invaders listed by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council on either of their Category One and Two Pest Plant Lists, such as Latherleaf, Carrotwood, Brazilian Peppertree, Snake Plant or Mother-in-Law's Tongue, Australian Pine, Earleaf Acacia, Wandering Jew or Inch Plant, Orchid Tree, Javanese Bishopwood or Bischofia, Arrowhead Vine, Golden Pothos or Devil's Ivy, Rosary Pea, Asparagus Fern, Air Potato, Strawberry Guava, Guava, non-native species of sword ferns such as Asian Sword Fern and Tuberous Sword Fern AKA Boston Fern (both are FLEPPC Class I Invasives and are members of the genus Nephrolepis), as well as many other invasive exotic pests in central and south Florida. Found from central Florida (zone 9a, including and especially along both coasts and on the barrier islands) southward through the rest of the state and the Keys. Invades vacant lots, disturbed sites such as sidewalk cracks, concrete gaps, edges of yards and properties, around old or abandoned buildings (e.g., houses, warehouses, etc.), as well as many natural areas and habitats such as coastal strand, coastal barrier islands, coastal and inland dry areas or scrub, sandy areas, along beaches on the protected back ridges of natural dunes (commonly invades those habitats) as well as many other or nearly all natural habitats except very wet or wet habitats in it's established and highly invasive distribution in central and southern Florida and the Keys. Does well in areas near the coast and on the backsides of dunes, where it can become very invasive like in Florida and parts of the Caribbean and Bahamas and Hawaii. Here is where it is found and/or is invasive:

WHERE IT IS FOUND/INVASIVE IN FLORIDA:

WHERE IT IS INVASIVE AND FOUND IN SOUTH FLORIDA (BY COUNTY):
Indian River
St. Lucie
Martin
Palm Beach
Broward
Miami-Dade
Monroe (the Keys)
Collier
Lee
Charlotte

WHERE IT IS FOUND/INVASIVE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA (BY COUNTY):
Sarasota
Manatee
Hillsborough
Pinellas
Pasco
Hernando

FLEPPC (Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council) Category One Invasive!

OTHER AREAS WHERE FOUND:
Bahamas
Caribbean
U.S. Virgin Islands
Puerto Rico
Hawaii (U.S.)
Louisiana (U.S.)

Loves alkaline or slightly to moderately salty (dry and/or sandy) soils. Grows very quickly in those types of soils, which are plentiful in Florida, the Caribbean and Hawaii (also may be a pest in Hawaii and parts of the Caribbean and in much of or all of the Bahamas). Named after the small white flowers inside a "cradle" or "boat" (hence the common names Moses-in-the-Boat, Moses-in-the-Cradle and Moses-in-the-Basket and Boatlily). Useful as a houseplant, but please DO NOT PLANT THIS PLANT OUTSIDE IN AREAS SUCH AS FLORIDA AND OTHER AREAS WHERE IT CAN BECOME VERY HARD TO GET RID OF AND INVASIVE!

See my photo and other photos also for this species.

To MotherNature4 - When I checked the FLEPPC website and ISB Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants it shows that it still is and is on the 2003 Pest Plant List in Category One. Maybe you overlooked it.

I got this plant from my husband's great aunt(she's 86)and together we have supplied the family with pieces of it. It's a wonderful potte...Read Mored plant around here. I've been afraid to plant it out in the ground myself for fear of losing it. The City of Anniston planted it last year in the median of one of the main throughfares and around the entrance of one of the city buildings. I couldn't believe they came up with this plant when usually it was some other everyday plant for this area. I wanted to go and ask for them during the fall because they dug them up and I haven't seen them since. So who knows where they are now. I put one of the plants in the house every winter and the rest of mine are in the greenhouse. They are such a pretty plant to have indoors during the dead of winter.

I like this plant. I grow it in pots, because it must come in before frost here in zone 7..
I have hd it blister my arms with a ne...Read Morewly broken leaf...
This year I am havinf problems with Squirrels ating the darn thing! I have had this pkant for 5years, and there is not much left of it now, never had this problem before!! Any one else??

This is one tough plant! In St. Petersburg, Florida you can often find it growing at abandoned or boarded up businesses, like an old ser...Read Morevice station for sale, or a building waiting to be torn down, where the plants can live for years surrounded by concrete, just on rainwater.

In a regular garden it makes a very attrractive and colorful groundcover for a sunny spot, which can be a difficult situation in such a hot climate. I didn't realize that it would grow up here in Northcentral Florida, zone 8b, so I am going to give this old favorite of mine a try, probably as a groundcover under white crepe myrtles, along with some blue agave, out by my gate to the dirt road--probably the most difficult situation on my property, because it gets hot noon-day sun, and car fumes and white dust from the road when its dry--but I can't remember the last time it was dry around here.

I never noticed that this plant was invasive. I think it will be fine along the side of the driveway, where the truck tracks and an occasional mowing of the sandy driveway will keep it in check, and the area behind the planting goes into deep shade, which it won't like. In fact, I'm hoping the plant will cover quite a lot of ground, as I have a jungle of ugly "natives" like poison oak, Virginia creeper, and monster trumpet creepers that will have to be beaten back in order to plant this bed.

There is a reason people have cultivated plants for over 10,000 years, and that reason is that the native flora provided an often subsistance living for just a few people, and that "living" was gone when the climate changed, or a plant disease struck. So "native" does not always mean better. Of course we should protect our endangered native plants, especially those that are valuable to wildlife, but lets all use some common sense about this whole "native vs exotic" controversy, especially in the garden, which by definition is a place controlled by people, for our benefit. And the arbitrary definition of a "native" as a plant existing in the USA when Colombus discovered America virtually ignores the fact that idigenous people were farmers themselves, especially the Eastern Tribes (I'm one-eighth Cherokee), and that there had been thousands of years of contact between Europe and the Eastern Coast of the USA--the Cherokee are noted for their tall, Viking like bodies and often had blue eyes. So let's face it--everyone's a mongrel to some extent, and it's all to the better--it's healthier. No species or ecosystem can be kept "pure" or static in time--both plants and people are always evolving, and "All is change."

Though this plant was formerly listed on the Exotic Pest Plant list in Florida, it is not found listed on either category of the 2003 lis...Read Moret. It is a good ground cover where many other things won't grow.

LOL ~ Good answer!!

Loosely translated, Sanchezia says that in Mexico, the plant is used to cure wounds or infections; the...Read More juice from the leaves are used to disinfect.

Yes the plant can become invasive, however, it really is pretty and quite hardy! Here in Northern Florida, we get a few hard freezes but the plant comes back in the spring.

Invade me!!!

I live near the coast of SW Florida. After planting quite a few Oyster Plants outside my home I discovered, via The Native Plant Socie...Read Morety, that this plant is highly invasive in Florida, propagating by spreading and by air-carried seed to places far from the original plant. As it spreads it covers the ground thickly and prevents other tree and native plant shoots from coming up. If you live in FL please take this seriously.

esta planta es muy apreciada en el sur de Mexico por sus virtudes como curativa. En México es conocida con el nombre de Maguey morado ...Read Morey es utilizada en cataplasmas para curar heridas o infecciones. El jugo de sus hojas asadas es utilizado para desinfectar. Yo considero que además de ser curativa es una planta bella por su color y la rareza de sus "espatas". En ¨México esta planta es reproducida por vástagos y no por hojas, y yo considero que crece mejor en sombra brillante o a la media sombra.

I divide my rhoeo by tranplanting the suckers...I have never heard of propogation by leaf cuttings but could be worth a try!

I recvd a small portion of this plant from a nearly dead mother plant which was left for several weeks in a home w/ no water. Very hardy ...Read Moreplant as we still found green on this otherwise dried out husk. Not knowing at the time what type of plant it was, I placed this small green leaf in water to root. This plant took off, rooting after a week or so, and continues to be a welcome addition to our home nearly two years later. Seeds may be harvested by plucking the pods and allowing them to completely dry out. Seeds sown in soil will begin new plants. You may also propogate by allowing leaf cuttings to root. Very hearty and easy to grow!

Stems to 8in high. Leaf tufts frow to 6-12in. wide, with a dozen or so broad, sword-shaped, rather erect leaves that are dark green above...Read More and deep purple underneath. Flowers are interesting rather than beautiful; the small, white, three-petaled blooms are crowded into boat-shaped bracts borne down among leaves. Selection 'Variegata' has leaves stiped red and yellowish green.

Avoid overwatering; try to keep water out of leaf axils. Tough plant that takes high or low light intensity, casual watering, low humidity, and heat. Plant most often grown in pots or in hanging baskets; grown as ground cover and edging in Florida.