This South American introduction is grown as a pot plant and escapes occasionally. These days it sometimes survives our increasingly mild UK winters. This one was found in a very dark part of an overgrown cemetery where the relatives of the deceased had long since given up tending graves. The degree of overgrown vegetation combined with ancient gravestones made this part of our Wild Flower Society meeting feel like a trip to the set of a B horror movie. No-one knew which Tradescantia this one was but its characteristic flowers indicate Tradescantia fluminensis which has the politically incorrect vernacular name of Wandering Jew.

There is very little of this recorded in the UK but the majority of sites are in the area where we found this specimen: London.

Mile End Cemetery (Now a Nature Reserve) London, 1st July 2006

Added on 12th November 2006, updated 15th February 2012