Sign in Start free
Species library › Tradescantia › Tradescantia brevifolia
Other Partly documented

Tradescantia brevifolia

Tradescantia brevifolia is a small, somewhat succulent spiderwort from the Chihuahuan Desert mountains and canyons of west Texas and northeastern Mexico. It wants bright light, sharp drainage and a cooler, drier winter, so treat it more like a desert succulent than a tropical Tradescantia.

Tradescantia brevifolia
Photo: C T Johansson, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Cool-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Dry airBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Rocky slopes, ledges and canyon walls in desert mountains, often in partly shaded spots among rocks or under shrubs. Details are generalised from the record locations and the genus.

Recorded from 22 to 2,733 m, median about 1,390 m; most records come from the Chisos Mountains and the Sierra Madre Oriental near Monterrey.

Mexico NortheastTexas

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Tradescantia brevifolia? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Start free Sign in

More Tradescantia

Tradescantia fluminensis Tradescantia zebrina Tradescantia hirsuticaulis Tradescantia virginiana Tradescantia pallida Tradescantia buckleyi Tradescantia spathacea Tradescantia longipes Tradescantia ohiensis Tradescantia ozarkana Tradescantia sillamontana Tradescantia occidentalis All 85 →

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY 3.0 licence, unmodified.