‘Albovittata’

Details

(Understanding this section)

Full name	Tradescantia ‘Albovittata’.
Name status	Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. Established with a description by Staff of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium (1976, p. 1119). Although the name in Latin should not be established after 1959 (Brickell et al., 2016, Art 21.11), it has become the most widely-used name and so is now accepted for the cultivar (Brickell et al., 2016, Art. 11.6). Also known as: ‘Vittata’, an established synonym. ‘Rochford Silver’, an established synonym. ‘Quicksilver’, an established synonym. ‘Sanna’, an established synonym. ‘Silver Queen’, an established synonym. ‘Rochford’s Quicksilver’, an established synonym. ‘Vittata Alba’, a name which may refer to this or another cultivar. ‘Alba Lineata’, a name which may refer to this or another cultivar. ‘White Joy’, an invalid trade name. ‘White Zebra’, an invalid trade name. ‘Blanca’, an invalid trade name. ‘Silvery Hill’, an invalid trade name. ‘White Beauty’, an invalid trade name. ‘Albo-vittata’, an invalid name which may refer to this or another cultvar. ‘Albo Variegata’, an invalid name which may refer to this or another cultivar. ‘Albo Lineata’, an invalid name which may refer to this or another cultivar. ‘Albo Vittata’, an invalid name which may refer to this or another cultivar. Not to be confused with: Tradescantia spathacea ‘Vittata’, the accepted name for another cultivar.
Origins	Unknown.
Classification	Often labelled as Tradescantia albiflora, which is now considered a botanical synonym for Tradescantia fluminensis (POWO, 2022). It does not fully match that species, but appears to be an unknown hybrid from the subgenus Austrotradescantia. Like other variegated Austrotradescantia cultivars, it is now placed in the Continental Group.
Legal protection	None.
Availability	Internationally mass-produced, sold under many synonyms and trade names.

Description

Preserved in a herbarium specimen (“Tradescantia ‘Albovittata'”, 2023).

Described with reference to the RHS Colour Chart (6th Edition; 2019 reprint).

Cultivar group	Tradescantia Continental Group.
Growth habit	Long stems which grow strongly downwards, creeping or trailing out of any container.
Foliage	Stems are 2-7mm wide with internodes 1-4cm long, strong yellow green (144A) to moderate olive brown (N199A), smooth except for a line of tiny hairs running along the length. Leaves are narrow pointed ovals, 4-12cm long and 1.5-5cm wide, smooth except for a few long hairs at the top of the sheath, with marginal variegation. On the upper surface, the pale areas are yellowish white (196D) to greenish white (192D), and the dark stripes are greyish olive green (NN137A to NN137C). On the undersides, the pale areas are yellowish white (196D) to very pale green (192C), and the dark areas are greyish yellow green (194A) to pale green (N138C). Leaf sheaths are moderate yellow green (143D) to greyish yellow green (191B).
Flowers	12-15mm across. Petals are pure white. Stamen filaments and pistil are white, anthers are yellow.

References

Staff of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium. (1976). Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

Brickell, C. D., Alexander, C., Cubey, J. J., David, J. C., Hoffman, M. H. A., Leslie, A. C., Malécot, V., Jin, X. (2016). International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. PDF link.

Pellegrini, M. O. O. (2018). Wandering throughout South America: Taxonomic revision of Tradescantia subg. Austrotradescantia (D.R.Hunt) M.Pell. (Commelinaceae). PhytoKeys 104: 1-97. Open access link.

Tradescantia ‘Albovittata’. (2023). [Herbarium specimen, barcode WSY0155548]. RHS Wisley Herbarium.