Details
| Full name | Tradescantia hirta ‘Ojo Caliente’. |
| Name status | Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. Listed online (private facebook post, 2018). No hardcopy description has been found, so the name is accepted and will be established once published (Brickell et al., 2016, Art. 27.1). |
| Origins | First documented for sale in Austria in 2018 (private facebook post, 2018). Presumed to originate from a wild collection in the Ojo Caliente area of New Mexico, USA. |
| Classification | It is classified as the species Tradescantia hirta based on observed traits. The species is sometimes known by its botanical synonym Setcreasea hirsuta. |
| Legal protection | None. |
| Availability | Available from some specialists and collectors in Europe. |
Description
Described with reference to the RHS Colour Chart (6th Edition: 2019 reprint).
| Species | Tradescantia hirta. |
| Growth habit | Clump-forming perennial which dies back to its tuberous roots in difficult conditions. |
| Foliage | Stems are 3-7mm thick with internodes 1-8cm long, strong yellow green (144B to 143B) to moderate reddish brown (177A) on flowering stalks. Leaves are narrow and grass-like, 6-20cm long and 1 -1.5cm wide, held with the margins slightly curled in over the upper surface. Upper and lower surfaces are moderate yellow green (147B) to moderate green (N138B). Sheaths are moderate yellow green (147B). Long white hairs are sparsely scattered along the margins and the underside of the central vein. |
| Flowers | 25-30mm across. Petals are strong purple (N81B to 77B). Stamens are yellow, with purple filaments. Stigma is white with a purple style. |
| Comparisons | Compared to ‘Swifttale’, flowers are very slightly smaller, leaves tend to be very slightly shorter and wider, and foliage is less hairy. |
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.