diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index d6bfb4b..2468a54 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -121,6 +121,11 @@ To learn more, see:
     SIGNALFX_TRACING_URL=tracing endpoint [ default: https://ingest.signalfx.com/v1/trace ]
     
 
+4. (Optional) Set environment variable to set `environment` root span tag
+
+.. code:: bash
+    SIGNALFX_ENVIRONMENT=production
+
 Step 4: Wrap a function
 --------------------------
 
@@ -292,6 +297,9 @@ The tracing wrapper creates a span for the wrapper handler. This span contains t
 | component                        | The literal value of             |
 |                                  | ‘python-lambda-wrapper’          |
 +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+| environment                      | Environment name defined by      |
+|                                  | SIGNALFX_ENVIRONMENT             |
++----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
 
 
 
diff --git a/signalfx_lambda/tracing.py b/signalfx_lambda/tracing.py
index 8e2444a..568c7b5 100644
--- a/signalfx_lambda/tracing.py
+++ b/signalfx_lambda/tracing.py
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ def call(*args, **kwargs):
         span_tags['component'] = 'python-lambda-wrapper'
         span_tags[ext_tags.SPAN_KIND] = ext_tags.SPAN_KIND_RPC_SERVER
 
+        environment = os.getenv('SIGNALFX_ENVIRONMENT')
+
+        if environment:
+            span_tags['environment'] = environment
+
         span_prefix = os.getenv('SIGNALFX_SPAN_PREFIX', 'lambda_python_')
 
         try: