Spiderwort

Spiderwort, or Job's tears, family of plants found in the tropical and temperate Americas and cultivated as house plants. Spiderworts have hairy stems that exude a sticky substance that can be drawn into a thread as fine as a spider's web. The leaves are grasslike, and the clusters of 3-petaled flowers open in the morning and die in the afternoon. Spiderwort can be found wild in woods across the country. As house plants they are usually known by their scientific name of Tradescantia. Wandering Jew, a house plant from Mexico, belongs to the same family.