‘Lavender’

Details

(Understanding this section)

Full name	Tradescantia fluminensis ‘Lavender’.
Name status	Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. First listed online with a photo by Sterwartia (2007). The name was written ‘ラベンダー’, a Japanese transcription for ‘Lavender’, which has now become the most commonly-used spelling. Established with a description by Hatch (2022). Also known as: ‘Tricolor’, an established synonym. ‘Discolor’, an established synonym. ‘Laekenensis’, an established synonym. ‘Laekenensis Rainbow’, an established synonym. ‘California’, an estsablished synonym. ‘Variegata’, an invalid name. ‘Purple Bicolor’, an established name of questionable status which may be a synonym or a different cultivar. ‘Rosea’, an invalid name which may refer to this or a different cultivar. All of the other established names are also used to refer to other cultivars, so the least ambiguous and most common name ‘Lavender’ is now accepted for this cultivar.
Origins	Introducted by Draps-Dom in 1907 in Laeken, Belgium (“Tradescantia laekenensis”, 1908).
Classification	The species Tradescantia fluminensis has sometimes been labelled with its botanical synonym Tradescantia albiflora, and with the invalid horticultural names Tradescantia viridis, Tradescantia repens, and Tradescantia reptans.
Legal protection	None.
Availability	Available from many nurseries and specialists.

Description

Preserved as a herbarium specimen (Hartling, 1921).

Species	Tradescantia fluminensis.
Growth habit	Small delicate stems, which creep or trail downwards.
Foliage	Leaves are pointed ovals. Each leaf is randomly striped with pink and silvery-green. Hairless all over except for a few hairs at the top of the leaf sheath.
Flowers	Small and white, typical for the species.

References

Tradescantia Laekenensis. (1908). The Florists’ Exchange, 26, p. 844. Biodiversity Heritage Library link.

Hartling, J. (1921). [Herbarium specimen, barcode 03734821]. New York Botanical Garden Steere Herbarium. Specimen scan link.

Stewartia. (2007). Tradescantia. Internet Archive link.

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.

Hatch, L. (2022). Commelinaceae: A Guide to Modern and Historic Cultivars.