Details
| Full name | Tradescantia (Continental Group) ‘White Giant’. |
| Name status | Accepted, the valid name for a unique cultivar. The name was selected by community vote in 2025, and will be established once published in hardcopy (Brickell et al., 2016, Art. 27.1). By description it appears to be identical to ‘EC-TRAD-2303’, but they are accepted as different cultivars because only one is patented. |
| Origins | Unknown. |
| Classification | Continental Group cultivars are often mislabelled as T. albiflora or T. fluminensis, but do not fully match that species are appear to be hybrids in the Austrotradescantia subgenus. |
| Legal protection | None. |
| Availability | Distributed by collectors worldwide. |
Description
Described with reference to the RHS Colour Chart (6th Edition; 2019 reprint).
| Cultivar group | Tradescantia Continental Group. |
| Growth habit | Upright or somewhat sprawling, very densely branched. |
| Foliage | Stems are 3-5mm thick, with internodes 0.5-2.5cm long, moderate olive green (146A). Leaves are spirally or alternately arranged along the stem. Leaves are ovals, 5.5-9cm long and 2-3.5cm wide wide, with no stalk (petiole). The upper surfaces are moderate yellow green (N148D to 137C), with marginal variegation usually yellowish white (196D), occasionally to very pale purple (76C). The undersides are moderate yellow green (138B) to greyish purple (N187B) under dark areas, and pale yellow green (157C) to light reddish purple (N75A) under light areas. Leaf sheaths are purplish grey (N187C) with slightly darker veins. The upper and lower leaf surfaces are completely hairless. The leaf margins are lined with tiny hairs (ciliate or ciliolate), and the tops of the sheaths have a cluster of longer hairs. |
| Flowers | 8-12mm across. Petals, stamens, and pistil are white, anthers are yellow. |
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.