Details
| Full name | Tradescantia pallida ‘Fluorite’. |
| Name status | Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. Registered in 2025, the name will be established once published in hardcopy (Brickell et al., 2016, Art. 27.1). |
| Origins | Controlled seedling bred in 2024. The seed parent was an unnamed seedling from ‘Jade King’ and ‘Kartuz Giant’. The pollen parent was an unnamed open-pollinated seedling from ‘Kartuz Giant’. Named after the green and purple mineral. Bred, named, registered, and introduced by Avery Rowe in Machynlleth, Wales, UK. |
| Classification | The species Tradescantia pallida is sometimes labelled with its botanical synonyms Setcreasea pallida and Setcreasea purpurea. |
| Legal protection | None. |
| Availability | Newly introduced in the UK. |
Description
Described with reference to the RHS Colour Chart (6th Edition; 2019 reprint).
| Species | Tradescantia pallida. |
| Growth habit | Growth is initially fairly upright, but long stems will eventually start to trail. In intense light it will stay compact and upright for longer, whereas in moderate light it will trail more easily. |
| Foliage | Stems are 7-9mm thick with internodes 2-5cm long, brownish grey (N200B). Leaves are wide ovals, 9-13cm long and 4-7cm wide. The upper surfaces are moderate olive green (146A) streaked with greyish purple (N187B). The undersides are greyish purple (N187B). Leaf sheaths are moderate yellow green (N148D). The leaves are scattered with white hairs, generally more concentrated on the upper surfaces. |
| Flowers | 18mm across. Petals are light purple (76A), wide and rounded. Stamen filaments and style are light purple, anthers are yellow, and stigma is white. |
| Comparisons | Compared to ‘Kartuz Giant’, the leaves are slightly narrower, and greener in colour. Compared to ‘Olwen’, the leaves are flatter and slightly narrower, and slightly greener in colour. |
References
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.