Details
| Full name | Tradescantia pallida ‘Jade King’. |
| Name status | Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. Registered by Erica Jane in 2023. The name is now accepted and will be established once published in hardcopy (Brickell et al., 2016, Art. 27.1). This plant is sometimes referred to as “wild green” or “wild type”. |
| Origins | Found growing among ‘Purpurea’ plants in Austin, Texas, USA. Selected, named, registered, and introduced by Erica Jane from Texas, USA. |
| Classification | This plant is often misidentified as Tradescantia brevifolia and Tradecantia buckleyi, but is now accepted as pure Tradescantia pallida. The species T. pallida is sometimes labelled with its botanical synonyms Setcreasea pallida and Setcreasea purpurea. |
| Legal protection | None. |
| Availability | Available from some nurseries and specialists, in the USA and Europe. |
Description
Preserved in a herbarium specimen (“Tradescantia pallida ‘Jade King'”, 2023).
Described with reference to the RHS Colour Chart (6th Edition; 2019 reprint).
| Species | Tradescantia pallida. |
| Growth habit | Growth is initially fairly upright, but eventually long stems will start to trail. In intense light it will stay compact and upright for longer, whereas in lower light it will trail more easily. |
| Foliage | Stems are 3-7mm thick with internodes 2-6cm long – usually shorter at the base and elongating towards the top of flowering stalks. Stems are dark yellowish green (139A) to moderate olive brown (N199A). Leaves are ovals, 2.5-4cm wide and 6-11cm long. Upper surfaces are greyish olive green (NN137A) to moderate olive green (137A), becoming stained dark purplish red (N79B) at the edges in intense light. The undersides are greyish yellow green (191A), with moderate yellowish green (N138B) veins, and sometimes a sheen of greyish purple (N187B). Leaf sheaths are light yellow green (145B) to purplish grey (N187C). The foliage ranges from mostly smooth with scattered hairs at the edges, to a covering of hair all over the leaf surfaces. |
| Flowers | 2-2.5cm across. Petals are light purple (76A), with a very rounded shape. Stamen filaments are purple and anthers are yellow. |
| Comparisons | Compared to ‘Blue Sue’, the leaves have a wider more rounded shape. The foliage is also darker green in colour and lacks the powdery farina. |
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.
Tradescantia pallida ‘Jade King’. (2023). [Herbarium specimen, barcode WSY0168549]. RHS Wisley Herbarium.