The plant known for its vivid, striped purple and green foliage, classified under the genus Tradescantia, is a popular houseplant and groundcover. This resilient species earned its former, controversial common name, “Wandering Jew,” not from a botanical source but from ancient European folklore. The connection lies in how the plant’s aggressive growth habits were seen to mirror the themes of eternal life and perpetual exile found in the medieval story.
The Mythological Origin of the Term
The source of the name “Wandering Jew” is a medieval Christian legend that emerged across Europe around the 13th century. This folklore concerns a Jewish man cursed with immortality and forced to roam the Earth until the Second Coming of Christ as punishment for a single transgression. The earliest documented account, from the English chronicler Roger of Wendover in 1228, names the man as Cartaphilus. Cartaphilus was a doorkeeper for Pontius Pilate who struck Jesus while he carried the cross and urged him to walk faster.
Jesus replied to Cartaphilus, “I go, and you will wait till I return,” condemning him to endless travel. This initial version sometimes portrayed the figure as penitent, converting to Christianity and living piously, but still unable to die. The core narrative always centered on the concept of forced, perpetual exile.
A more widely circulated and less sympathetic version appeared in a German pamphlet in 1602, where the wanderer was named Ahasuerus. This figure was described as a shoemaker in Jerusalem who refused to allow Jesus to rest at his doorway on the way to the crucifixion. In this account, Ahasuerus was simply cursed to walk the earth forever without relief.
The legend of the perpetually traveling figure became a vehicle for antisemitic ideas in Europe. It symbolized the perceived consequences of rejecting Christ and reinforced stereotypes of Jewish people as cursed nomads estranged from society. The “Wandering Jew” became an enduring motif in literature and art, embodying themes of unrepentant sin and perpetual alienation.
Connecting the Legend to Botanical Traits
The link between the medieval legend and the Tradescantia genus was forged by the plant’s aggressive growth characteristics. Species such as Tradescantia zebrina, T. fluminensis, and T. pallida were named this because their physical nature seemed to embody the story’s themes of endless travel and resilience. The most direct parallel is the “wandering” element, which describes the plant’s habit of rapid, sprawling growth.
These plants are known for their long, trailing stems that quickly spread across surfaces or cascade from hanging baskets. If a stem comes into contact with the soil, it readily sprouts new roots at the nodes, allowing the plant to rapidly colonize a new area. This movement across the landscape is the basis for the term “wandering.” This fast growth rate is so pronounced that another common name, the “Inchplant,” references its ability to grow an inch or more in a single week.
The second connection to the legend is the plant’s extraordinary resilience and near-immortality. Tradescantia species are easy to propagate from cuttings, with small pieces of stem readily rooting in water or soil. This ease of propagation and survival creates the illusion that the plant is perpetually renewing itself, much like the immortal figure in the folklore.
The combination of its unstoppable, trailing movement and its extreme hardiness created a memorable analogy for growers and botanists. The common name was likely established during the 19th or early 20th century when the plant was introduced to European and American horticulture.
The Shift to New Common Names
The common name “Wandering Jew” has been increasingly abandoned by botanists, nurseries, and plant enthusiasts. This is due to its direct link to the antisemitic medieval legend. The name is recognized as offensive because it perpetuates the harmful stereotype of the cursed, perpetually displaced Jewish person, a core theme of the original folklore.
This recognition has led to a widespread shift toward adopting alternative, non-controversial common names that focus on the plant’s physical characteristics. The most popular replacement is “Inchplant,” which is a clear reference to the plant’s fast growth rate. Another accepted alternative is “Spiderwort,” the name for the broader plant family, referring to the threads of sticky sap that form when a stem is cut.
Other modern, informal alternatives like “Wandering Dude” or simply “Tradescantia” are frequently used to identify the colorful, trailing houseplant. This move reflects a broader trend in horticulture to eliminate common names with insensitive historical origins and replace them with names that are descriptive, neutral, and inclusive.