Grass of the dew

Appearance

Main stem is undeveloped, short. Fertile stems arise from below the leaf rosette, diffuse, creeping, 20-80 cm. Leaves are in a basal rosette and cauline. Rosulate leaf blade linear, 8-35 × 0.5-1.5 cm; cauline leaf blade on fertile stems much shorter, to 7 cm, abaxially rather densely arachnoid. Flowers arise in often several, both terminal and axillary heads, stalkless or on a stalk up to 4 cm. Bracts are 7-8 mm. Sepals are fused at base, linear-lanceshaped, about 5 mm, webby on the underside. Petals are blue-purple, blue, or white, about 6 mm. Filaments are blue, cobweb-like. Capsules are broadly oblong, trigonous, about 2.5 mm, densely hairy at the tip.
Flowering: June-September.

Naming

Synonyms
Cyanotis pilosa Wight
Cyanotis bodinieri H. Lév. & Vaniot
Cyanotis labordei H. Lév. & Vaniot
Tradescantia lanata B.Heyne ex C.B.Clarke
Tradescantia incana B.Heyne ex C.B.Clarke
Tonningia arachnodea (C.B.Clarke) Kuntze

Distribution

Tropical Africa, Indian Subcontinent, southern China, Indochina

Uses

Grass of the dew was used to cure the rheumatic infections in the China Imperial. The roots are used as medicine for stimulating blood circulation, as a muscle and joint relaxant, and for relieving rheumatoid arthritis.