Details
| Full name | Tradescantia pallida ‘Froglet’. |
| Name status | Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. Registered in 2024, the name will be established once published in hardcopy (Brickell et al., 2016, Art. 27.1). |
| Origins | Open-pollinated seedling bred in 2023. The seed parent is Tradescantia pallida ‘Ocampo White’. The pollen parent is another unknown T. pallida cultivar. Named by Cassian Lodge for the small, bright green leaves. Bred, 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 3.5-6.5mm thick with internodes 1.5-8cm long – usually shorter at the base and elongating towards the top of flowering stalks. Stem colour is moderate yellow green (147B) to greyish reddish brown (200B). Leaves are ovals, 7-10cm long and 2.5-4cm wide. The upper surfaces are moderate yellow green (146B) to moderate olive green (137A), in very intense light becoming slightly stained dark purplish red (N186D) to dark greyish red (N186C). The undersides are moderate yellow green (138B) to greyish olive green (NN137D), staining greyish purple (N187B) to greyish purplish red (N77B) in intense light. Leaf sheaths range from moderate yellow green (147D) to greyish purplish red (N77B) depending on light level. The upper and lower leaf surfaces are scattered with white hairs, which become denser in bright sun. |
| Flowers | 15-20mm across. Petals are soft purple, usually with white tips. The petals are extremely rounded, almost as wide as they are long, and with very little point at the tips. Stamen filaments and style are purple, anthers are yellow, and stigma is white. |
| Comparisons | Compared to ‘Blue Sue’, the leaves are brighter green in all growing conditions, and slightly smaller. Compared to ‘Ocampo White’, the leaves are shorter and the flowers are purple. |
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.