Details
| Full name | Tradescantia pallida ‘Purple Pixie’ |
| Name status | Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. Established with a description by Hatch (2022). Also known as:
|
| Origins | The origins are unknown, but it was most likely a sport or seedling from Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’. First grown by PT Florion in Indonesia (G. J. Hendriks, personal correspondence, February 2022). Introduced by G. J Hendriks in the Netherlands some time before 2018 (Plantlin, 2018). Named by Jenny Moore in the UK. |
| Classification | The species Tradescantia pallida is sometimes labelled with its botanical synonyms Setcreasea pallida and Setcreasea purpurea. |
| Legal protection | None. |
| Availability | Internationally mass-produced, although often sold with invalid trade names instead of its correct name. |
Description
Preserved in a nomenclatural standard herbarium specimen (“Tradescantia pallida ‘Purple Pixie'”, 2022).
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. More compact than most other T. pallida cultivars. |
| Foliage | The stems are compact with internodes around 2cm in good conditions, greyish purple (N77A). Leaves are wide ovals, around 10cm long and 4-5cm wide at maturity, usually slightly furry all over. Upper leaf surfaces are dark purplish grey (N186A-N186B), lower surfaces are dark purple (79A), and stem sheaths are strong purple (77B). |
| Flowers | About 2cm across. Petals are strong purple (77B), with yellow stamens. Flowering is less frequent than most T. pallida cultivars. |
| Comparisons | In comparison to Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’, this cultivar has shorter stems, wider leaves, more reddish colours, and flowers much less frequently. |
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.
Plantlin. (2018). Tradescantia pallida ‘Purple Passion’. Garden. Web archive link.
Hatch, L. (2022). Commelinaceae: A Guide to Modern and Historic Cultivars.
Tradescantia pallida ‘Purple Pixie’. (2022). [Herbarium specimen, barcode WSY0168497]. RHS Wisley Herbarium.