Details
| Full name | Tradescantia sillamontana ‘Gold Stripes’. |
| Name status | Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. Established with a description by Hatch (2022). Also known as:
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| Origins | Unknown. Named by Tom Antill (personal communication, April 2022). |
| Classification | The species Tradescantia sillamontana is occasionally labelled with its botanical synonym Tradescantia pexata. |
| Legal protection | None. |
| Availability | Available from some nurseries and specialists. |
Description
Described with reference to the RHS Colour Chart (6th Edition: 2019 reprint).
The entire plant can vary its appearance dramatically in different conditions – changing in growth habit, leaf shape, size, hairiness, and colour. It’s impossible to cover every possible variation, but this general summary describes a healthy plant grown in typical indoor conditions (moderate light) and outdoors in full sun (intense light).
| Species | Tradescantia sillamontana. |
| Growth habit | Initially upright, then sprawling or trailing as stems grow longer. In intense light it will stay compact and upright for longer, whereas in moderate light it will trail more easily. |
| Foliage | Stems are 3-5mm wide, with internodes 1-4cm long. They are thickly covered with long white fluffy hairs, with the underlying colour dark green or purple. Leaves are narrow ovals, 4-7cm long and 2-3cm wide. They are covered with long white fluffy hairs on both surfaces, but more thickly on the undersides. The upper surfaces are moderate olive green (137B), with random stripes of pale yellow (11C) covering 0-100% of the leaf surface. The undersides are pale green (N138C), striped with pale purplish pink (56A). In intense light the undersides become flushed with deep purplish pink (73A). The leaves also become strongly longitudinally folded inwards under harsh conditions. |
| Flowers | Bright pink, typical for the species. |
References
Hatch, L. (2022). Commelinaceae: A Guide to Modern and Historic Cultivars.
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.