‘Violet Hill’

Details

(Understanding this section)

Full name	Tradescantia zebrina ‘Violet Hill’.
Name status	Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. Listed for sale since 2002 with no description, by Floricode (2022). The name was documented with a herbarium specimen (“Tradescantia zebrina”, 2014), and described in hardcopy by Hatch (2022). Also known as: ‘Silver Plus’, an established synonym. ‘Pink Joy’, an established synonym. ‘Purple’, an invalidly published name. ‘Mini Pink Joy’, an invalid name. ‘Silver Lady’, an invalid name. ‘Purple Tinge’, an invalid name. ‘Zebra’, an invalid name. ‘Compacta’, an invalid name used for multiple cultivars. ‘Red Jewel’, an invalid name used for multiple cultivars. ‘Red Gem’, an invalid name used for multiple cultivars. ‘Silver Sicilian’, an invalid name used for multiple cultivars. ‘Sterling Silver’, an invalid name used for multiple cultivars. ‘Blue Tiger’, an invalid name used for multiple cultivars. The most widely-used name ‘Violet Hill’ is now accepted.
Origins	Unknown.
Classification	The species Tradescantia zebrina is sometimes labelled with its botanical synonyms Tradescantia pendula, Zebrina pendula and Cyanotis zebrina.
Legal protection	None.
Availability	Mass-produced and widely available.

Description

Preserved as a herbarium specimen (“Tradescantia zebrina ‘Violet Hill'”, 2022).

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, and colour. It’s impossible to cover every possible variation, but this general summary describes a typical healthy plant.

Species	Tradescantia zebrina.
Growth habit	Stems initially grow upright but soon start to sprawl and trail out of any container.
Foliage	Stems are 2-6mm wide with internodes 1.5-6cm long, smooth and hairless. The colour is dark red (187A) to greyish purplish red (N77B), dotted with lighter green freckles. Leaves are asymmetrical pointed ovals, 6-10cm long and 3-5cm wide. The upper surface is slightly rough with warty bumps, and scattered with hairs. Each half of the leaf has a bold stripe running its length, taking up 50-70% its total width. The base colour of the upper leaf surface is dark purplish grey (N186A to N187A) on new growth, fading to dark greyish green (N189A) with age. The stripes are light grey (191C) with a very metallic shimmer, streaked with dark purple (79C) to dark purplish red (N79B) in intense light. Leaf undersides are dark purple (79A) to dark purplish red (N79A). Sheaths are moderate yellow green (147C), with dark puplish red (N79B) along the veins and sometimes covering most of the surface.
Flowers	Flowers are uncommon, but typical for the species with light purple petals.

References

Tradescantia zebrina. (2014, November 27). [Herbarium specimen, barcode WSY0134987]. RHS Wisley Herbarium.

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.

Floricode. (2022). E-Barcodes. Internet Archive link.

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

Tradescantia zebrina ‘Violet Hill’. (2022). [Herbarium specimen, barcode WSY0168490]. RHS Wisley Herbarium.